Catalyst
by Storyteller Ann
Summary: An old friend of Gui's comes back from abroad, and she quickly realizes what her genius friend was too blind to see: Prince's true gender.
1. Chapter Zero

**Now this fanfiction is complete, I decided to take some time to fix some things, mostly grammar. But in this first chapter, the main change is about something pointed to me by Aynessa (my first reviewer ever, bless her). In Brazil we usually introduce speech with underscore, instead of quotation marks. But to conform to international standards, I finally changed all the speeches to quotation marks. Also, since the story is already finished, I took the teaser out.**

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><p><strong>Chapter Zero:<strong> _The Return of a Long-Time-No-See Friend_

How it started depends upon the person telling the tale, but you can simplify it by saying it started with a phone call.

Gui picked the phone, surprised someone would be calling him so late at night. Usually at this hour he'd be done with correcting his student's essays and logging into Second Life.

"Hi, Gui! It's Ling. I hope I didn't call too late? Guess what? I'm coming back!"

A wide smile spread across Gui's face.

"Really? That's great! When?"

And so they began to chat.

* * *

><p>Later, when Gui finally logged into Second Life, he was welcomed by a smiling Yulian. The bard paled, feeling that a gruesome punishment awaited him for his delay.<p>

"Gui, you know the building department is busy with Infinite City's constant expansion, and Fairsky can't manage the whole department alone. When you're absent the poor girl has to work in double, and barely has any free time to spend with Sunshine. Don't you think it's too cruel to keep the girl from being with the person she loves, only because you weren't here to fulfill your duties?"

Gui swallowed, trying to think in some excuse before the mage could make him feel worse. When Yulian made a pause in her accusations, he blurted out:

"My best friend I haven't seen in years just called to tell me she's coming back from abroad. I guess we've got lost in the conversation. I'm sorry, I'm going to the office help Fairsky right away." And thus he ran before Yulian could say any more reprimand.

In the way, he crossed Prince. Gui really considered making a halt to throw himself at the elf's feet, but he was too much afraid of Yulian. So he contented himself in shouting cheerfully "Your Highness!" without stop running.

* * *

><p>"Ling, why don't you join Infinite City? You could help a lot, and I'm sure you'd like the city." Gui suddenly remembered asking. This time Ling had called earlier, so they could talk freely, without him having to incur in Yulian's wrath.<p>

"What? Ah, you're talking about Second Life. Gui, I don't play Second Life."

Ming Gui Wen stared blankly at the phone. What did she mean? _Everyone_ played Second Life.

"I didn't have time." She explained. " Also, there were matters of loyalty. I was working for the other game company, you know, The World. But Second Life keeps stealing our players, and the branch in which I used to work just got closed. That's why I'm coming back: I was kicked out of the country when I lost my job."

"Oh. I'm sorry for your job."

"Don't be. By the way, is Second Life really this good? I mean, if even you, who never liked MMO RPG, is playing it…"

Gui then started a speech about all the amazing things in Second Life, and Ling promised she would start playing that very night, but he had to promise to help her level as soon as she left the newbie's village.

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><p>Ling created her character in Second Life to look like her in real life. She considered being an elf, but decided pointed ears were good for other people, not for her. She also took her time in the newbie village. Which was worthy.<p>

"…a wanderer?" Gui asked skeptically.

"Yes! It's a secret quest class, good for finding quests and solving puzzles. The skills rise slowly, but they're well distributed, so I can distance or close, magical or physical fight as I please."

"And when will you join Infinite City?"

"This night."

* * *

><p>For Prince, it was really weird not having Gui throwing himself against him. In fact, Gui was presenting himself in a fashion Prince had never seen before. It was not the scandalous fool from every night in Second Life, nor the composed and cool genius teacher from everyday at the university. He was just being… normal.<p>

With a huge smile, the bard conduced a girl dressed in a yellow cloak.

"… and this is the Main Hall, where we hold all the important banquets and formalities, and down that corridor is my and Fairsky's office. We take care of the building department, so actually this whole place is my design. Well, there's Fairsky hand in it, too, but is mostly my design."

"Wow, Gui, I always knew you could do anything you decided to put some effort into, but I never thought… Gui, that's great."

"If you liked the castle, you need to see the fountain…"

"Show me! I want to see it!"

He then hurried back to the streets of Infinite City, dragging Ling along. Their happy tour was forced to come to an end as Yulian found them.

"Gui, I am sure I can show your friend around, so that you can go and help poor Fairsky."

With a squeak, he shouted Ling a goodbye and hurried to his office.

Ling looked to Yulian, slightly frightened by that person's smile. But the older woman's smile turned into a warmer one as soon as Gui was out of sight.

"You must be Ling, right? Gui's been talking about you for days now."

Ling suddenly looked very pleased.

"He has?"

" Yup. You two must be very good friends. How did you get to know each other?"

_Ling was about nine, but was already in sixth grade, which means two years advanced. She felt small and lonely among the older kids in her class. And kids her age wouldn't befriend her because she was in an advanced year. Then, one day, a new boy arrived at school. He looked about eleven, so she tough he was going to be her new classmate. That was, until the moment he passed by the sixth grade door without even peeking inside and walked into the eighth grade class. At lunchtime, Ling saw him sitting alone, and realized he was just like her. He was a kid who didn't have many friends because he was too intelligent for his own good._

_The boy was, of course, Gui. They got along very well, and Ling's only shock was to discover that he just wasn't even more advanced at school because his parents thought he needed the company of kids his age. He wasn't just very smart, he was a _genius_._

After showing Ling around, Yulian excused herself, for she had some urgent matters to attend in the financial department. Ling was not concerned. She now needed to train, since level forty six wasn't very impressive before Odd Squad's average of seventy.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One: Meeting People

_In which Ling gets in touch with some characters we already know, but she knows not. In which the author postpones Gui and Prince's participations, and also postpones details about Ling's relationship with Gui._

_Second Life, somewhere not exactly near Infinite City._

Ling sat on the top of the hill, cursing inwardly her choice of class. She didn't want to be a mage or archer or priest and stay behind just supporting the others. In fact, she wasn't even the kind that liked being with others. Being part of a duo or trio was fine, but a team of six people… She shivered at the mere thought.

Well, she resumed her previous trail of thought, she didn't want to stay behind the scenes, but being a warrior - for example - would be too tiring. Close combat, wearing heavy armors, training skills… definitively not suited for her.

So, back in the newbie village, Ling decided to take her time and explore, instead of leveling up like crazy. It cost her two or three deaths in unexplored dungeons, but she didn't cared. She talked to every NPC in the village, verifying whose only gave simple programmed answers and whose could keep long conversations and tell stories. She read most books in the library and random shelves in other NPC facilities. By doing so she learned combat strategies against almost every mob in Second Life, and their weak points as well.

Then, one day, she crossed paths with a NPC she had never seen before, and started talking to him. The NPC assigned her a quest, and when she fulfilled the quest she was offered to become a wanderer. The wanderer class was more suited for quests than fighting, and received more exp from each quest fulfilled. Ling loved the job description, for she was much more brain than muscles. Then she became a wanderer.

But, she started cursing inwardly again, she'd forgotten about the wandering part. About the wandering part meaning all the thousands of miles she had to walk. She liked walking, but not going back and forth a dozen times between two cities. Ling wouldn't teleport even if she had the money to, since she'd become a wanderer in order to explore her surroundings and finding interesting quests. And by teleporting she'd be stealing herself this opportunity.

Ling sighed and looked at Infinite City, so far away it was just a blur in the horizon. She was already starting to consider Infinite City like home, but would be unable to come back for a few more days until she finished her current quest. She sighed again and started walking.

_Real Life_

The bus was an island amid the cars rushing in the streets, and the traffic was so noisy that Ling almost didn't listen to her phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Ling. It's me."

"Gui!", Ling broadened a smile, the boredom of the traffic and the gray city completely forgotten.

"Are you busy now?"

Ling rolled her eyes. When would he ever realize she was never busy for _him_?

"I'm going to work, but my bus is stuck at the traffic, so I've got some free time to spare. Why?"

"You found a new job?"

"Not quite. You know, not anything to make sure of a paycheck by the end of every month, but people who work with computers can always do something to get some money. Why?" She didn't like when she had to repeat her questions, but sometimes, and especially when dealing with Gui, it was unavoidable.

"Well, if you weren't going to work, today I leave the university earlier, so we could meet and do something…"

The girl felt her heart skip a beat, the world around her becoming more real. The music escaping the headphones of the person sitting next to her in the bus, the smell of the pollution from the cars and sweat from the people, her own clothes brushing against her skin when she moved to adjust to the movement of the bus.

"…for, you know, even though we have seen each other in Second Life, we haven't actually met. It's been such a long time!"

Startled, Ling realized Gui hadn't stopped talking, it was only her who stopped thinking.

Reluctantly, she told him they'd have to meet any other day. _Out of sight, out of mind_, a voice inside her head reminded, but Ling just shook it off. She _did_ have to work.

Getting off the bus at XXX University, Ling started to look for the computer lab, where someone would try to explain what she had to do, but would fail miserably and let her discover for herself while examining the computer.

In the end, she realized there was a bug - or, more precisely, dozens of bugs - in the University system, databank and intranet. She spent almost two hours cleaning the mess in the main computer, but managed to get things working properly. Theoretically.

Being a somewhat methodic person, Ling went to check in other computers if the remote access was going smoothly. Her first stop was in the chemistry department.

The laboratory was empty, except for a male student about her age, apparently conducing some sort of experiment. Apologizing for the interruption, Ling sat by a random computer and started typing.

Since her hands already knew what to do, Ling threw a bored glance around the lab. The student was concentrated in his work. He had some quite nice features, she decided. But oddly familiar.

The boy looked in her direction when the typing sound stopped.

"Excuse me, do I know you from Second Life?", Ling asked.

"I don't think so, but my name in game is Wicked."

Ling's eyes lit up in recognition.

"From the military department?"

"Yes."

"I must have seen you when Yulian was showing me around. Nice to meet you, I'm Eng Ling."

"Zhuo Lin Bin, nice to meet you."

Both came back to their works, but exchanged a few words out of courtesy and ended up caught in a conversation.

"Then, Zhuo, you like that military stuff?"

"I like strategy games, and training the soldiers is not so bad, but I guess sometimes it can all be very… distressing." He was thinking about the last time Infinite City's army went to battle under Prince's lead. It was just too difficult to guard the elf's back when he was in a killing frenzy.

Not knowing how to answer that, Ling clung to the part she understood.

"When you say strategy games, you mean chess, shogi and those things?"

"Yeah. I don't play shogi, though. And you?"

"I like chess, but I'm not very good at it. I couldn't win a single game against an average player." Ling answered meekly. _Though I could program a computer that could…_

"You should drop by the military department and ask Wolf for a few tips. He would be pleased to help."

"I see. I guess I'll do it. But first I have to come back o Infinite City." Ling planned to end her sentence there, but seeing Lin Bin's look of curiosity, she added. "I'm in the middle of a quest, near Moon City."

Lin Bin nodded with a serious look.

"Then, in this case take your time and explore Moon City carefully. All data you gather can be useful to the military department."

Ling's eyes glistened as she realized what he was talking about.

"It's about the new patch, right? Then the rumors are true. Infinite City is going into battle to unite the Central Continent under the banner of Prince."

"Well… yes. But what do you mean by 'the rumors are true'? What rumors?", Lin Bin asked confused.

Ling threw him an amused glance.

"I'm done." he stopped typing. "Now come here and see what I mean by 'rumors'".

On the screen a webpage was open, a forum of discussions about Second Life. Clicking over the thread 'Prince', a list of subjects appeared.

"'Fan Club of Super Ultra Mega Bishie Prince'", Lin Bin read aloud," 'What Prince is going to do next', 'The Meatbun Conspiracy', 'About Prince's true identity'… They can't possibly have any clue, can they?"

Seeing how Lin Bin was suddenly worried, Ling appeased him.

"Nah, they're only theories, and crazy ones, as for that matter. My favorite is the one that says Prince is actually an NPC created by Second Life Corporation to increase the game's popularity." She laughed at Lin Bin's face of disbelief. "Yeah, didn't I say they only have crazy theories? But, what I was going to show you. Here, in 'What Prince is going to do next'. Most people figured Infinite City was going for this kind of military maneuver."

"…"

"But I think is foolish, to say the least, to post their theories in the internet. If we wanted to caught them off guard, we'd just have to read here what they think we're going to do and then do something else."

For the first time Zhuo Lin Bin examined her more carefully. He looked like he was making calculations. Finally, he said.

"Show up in the military department as soon as you're back to Infinite City. Wolf, Zui and White Bird will love to recruit you."

_Second Life, somewhere very, very near Infinite City_

It was against all laws of physics, yet Ling couldn't be more sure about it. When she left Infinite City, she was forced to climb up one hill after another. And now, in her way back to the city, she was being forced to climb… all the way up, again. This time she directed her cursing towards the realism of 99%, that made the sun burn so hot against her back and made she feel so hot and so tired.

When she finally made it to the top, she was supporting all her weight against her staff in order to keep standing. Then she looked down, and saw.

The lake.

Ling had always known that Infinite City had a lake, but it was the first time she was actually seeing it. It was so beautiful… she could almost forgive the sun for being so bright and hot, for the light reflecting in the water had a relaxing effect. She stood there staring dazzled at the lake, until the moment she realized what was beyond the lake.

The bookshop.

Then she was rushing down the cliff, finding strength she didn't knew she had. _Shadow… Fresh water… Books!_ _And a place to sit! _

"Now there, jie-jie, you look really exhausted." Gu Yun Fei pointed out, handing Ling a glass of water.

After drinking, Ling took many deep breaths before answering.

"I actually am exhausted. But if you keep calling me 'jie-jie' you'll find out soon enough that I'm not so exhausted I can't cause you pain." She had to take another deep breath before continuing. "I'm not that older than you."

Lu Jing patted Ling's shoulder.

"He didn't mean to offend you. What's your name?"

"I'm Ling."

"I'm Jing and this is Yun. We're sort of in charge of the bookshop."

Ling looked around again. The place was a combination between café and bookshop, and was neatly kept. And, from Ling's point of view, a well done job is something that must always be praised.

"You're doing a great job. This place is amazing." Jing and Yun's faces reddened with the compliment. Then Ling just remembered to add. "And thanks for not letting me faint over your welcoming carpet."

"Y-you're welcome." They replied.

After taking her time to rest, Ling started examining the books. Talking to Jing and Yun, she discovered they also loved reading, and Jung even planned to be a writer.

"Wow, that's cool." Ling pointed the shelves, "Is any of these yours?".

"Well… not. I still haven't come up with a good ending, but I'll figure it out soon, then I'll put my book on sale." Jing promised.

"I'll look forward to it." Ling replied so sincerely Jing blushed.

"But, you know…" Yun said, distractedly taking a book from a nearby shelf. "It just makes me wonder how much of a genius Professor Min actually is. Did you know he wrote three whole novels just so that we'd have more books to sell at the inauguration?"

Ling put on a wow-that's-amazing face, but went silent for a few moments.

"By 'Professor Min' you mean Min Gui Wen, also known as Guileastos, the bard from Odd Squad?"

"Yes. Do you know him?" Yun asked curious.

Ling's smile was a Mona Lisa, and Ling's eyes were sphinxes.

"Of course I know him."

If her sixth sense wasn't telling her Yun was some sort of master in the art os gossip, she could have added aloud:

_Because he is the man I love._


	3. Chapter One and a Half

**Chapter One and a Half**: Things that Weren't Exactly Hidden

_Which came into existence because there were things that didn't belong neither to Chapter one, neither to Chapter two. In which Prince and Gui appear, but the explanatory flashbacks are still postponed._

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><p><em>Second Life, Infinite City<em>

Ling wasn't exactly hurrying towards the castle and the military department. She was taking her time to explore the streets of the city she already considered her online home. Of course, Gui and Yulian had shown her around, but it wasn't enough. She needed to know every store in every street, every suspicious character in every suspicious alley.

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><p>Yulian frowned, looking at the numbers in the parchment. She wouldn't frown if they were just numbers, she had not against numbers. But she <em>did<em> have something against red numbers, especially when they were noted down on the parchment that summarized Infinite City's finances.

Ice Phoenix watched worriedly. Since she was also part of the financial department, and was very committed into keeping red and numbers two separated things, Yulian's icy smile was scarcely directed at her. But the older woman's frown was deepening, and soon not even her would be safe against the mage's wrath.

"I guess", Yulian finally said, the frown disappearing, "the military department will be very disappointed when we stop them from doing their war."

At first Phoenix found that a reasonable solution. But then things her sister White Bird had said came back to her mind. Conquering the other cities was important for Prince and Infinite City. Prince needed to raise his fame and level, and by uniting the Central Continent Infinite City would be safe against major dangers. No coalition of players would find a place to group and organize an attack. And Prince liked going into battle so much…

The thought of pleasing Prince was stronger than the fear of questioning Yulian's decision.

"We can't. This war is important to Infinite City."

After a little arguing and staring/smiling contest, Phoenix suddenly had an idea. And one idea that had the plus of allowing her to spend a little more time with Prince.

"It's been a while since Infinite Band last performed."

Yulian raised her eyebrows in a way that meant she was considering the thought. And making calculations.

Finally, Yulian gave a smile. A warm one.

"I've taught you well, Phoenix."

* * *

><p>"… and, you see, Moon City has quite a few passageways that allow a thief or any stealth player to snick in and diminish the city defenses from inside." Ling finished explaining, and the major members of military department felt silent.<p>

Nan Gong Zui finally broke the silence.

"Even though I've lived in Moon City for a long time, I didn't know of this passages. Also, I think the information you gave us will help to re-think all of our offensive strategy."

Ling smiled.

"I'm pleased to help."

"Ling, may I know how did you get in possession of these information?" White Bird asked, looking like her brain was working very hard on something.

"Well, I just asked." Seeing White Bird and Wicked's looks of disbelief, she elaborated. "You see, these things were never exactly hidden, you just have to look at them… sideways. If you go beyond the obvious and ask the right questions to the right people, you might hear lots of interesting stuff. People will never conceal information they don't think is useful."

For Zui it seemed like a very twisted logic, but White Bird's face lit up.

"You know, Ling, acquiring information is crucial , especially with an upcoming battle." The older woman started, but at this moment they were interrupted.

"Wicked, Yulian-dasao asked me to call you to meet everyone in the Main Hall." Doll said happily.

"I'll go as soon as I finish my business here." Wicked promised.

"Dasao thought you were going to say that. In that case she asked me to tell you that Prince-gege is already there, and so is Gui."

Wicked got up as if electrified, and left after saying a sharp "Excuse me".

As soon as he left the room, White Bird resumed her speech, not giving Ling the time to consider if she should follow Wicked in order to find Gui.

"As I was saying, acquiring information is crucial, but unfortunately Wolf, Zui, Wicked and I already have our hands full with training the warriors and devising strategies for the upcoming war. On the other hand, you seem to be the most talented on the field of obtaining information inconspicuously. Ling Niu, would you be interested in organizing and leading Infinite City's Intelligence Agency ?"

One second. Two seconds. Then Ling finished processing the data and beamed.

"You're asking me to be a spy? You're actually asking me to be chief over a whole spy thing?"

"Precisely."

_Ling's memories flashed back to her childhood. Or, more precisely, her early teens. She'd been reading a book about cryptography in the Second World War, and it was so interesting she actually found other books on the subject, and pestered Gui so much he ended up reading a huge volume about Morse Code and telegraphy._

_They spent weeks (okay, it had been only two and a half weeks) trying to devise new ways of communicating without having their messages intercepted, and even tried to built a telegraph out of scratch. That was, until his or her mother - Ling didn't remembered anymore - pointed out that sending text messages in each other cell phones was easier._

_A shame, because it was really fun playing spy._

"YAY!", Ling shouted in sheer joy.

White Bird took that as a 'yes'.

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><p>Even though Ling was determined to organize Infinite City Intelligence Agency (ICIA? What a terrible name! She decided a cool spy organization needed a cool acronym as its name, so she would have to come up with one soon.) in perfect secrecy, she couldn't help but humming the <em>Get Smart Theme Song<em>.

Still elated, she walked down the corridors of the castle towards the Main Hall, wondering if the meeting Yulian had called was still ongoing.

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><p>Wicked didn't <em>liked<em> being part of a band. Well, maybe he did, in the beginning, before running away from fan girls became a life-and-death issue. But there was no way he was going to let that bastard Gui alone with Xiao Lan. Last time Infinite Band had gone on a tour, the bard had spent a lot of time alone with Prince, under the excuse of practicing the songs. But this time Wicked wouldn't let that happen…

"So it's settled." Yulian said after explaining the schedule for the upcoming performances of Infinite Band. "Everything is going to be just like before, Gui with the songs, Wicked with the choreographies, and… Lolidragon, this time we can't afford to make new outfits for every concert, so you'll have to display your creativity by making the old ones look like new ones."

Lolidragon started complaining, but Yulian wouldn't back away. At some point during their arguing, Ling finally got to the Main Hall, but kept silence in order to not disturb the meeting. She had already learned that Yulian was scary.

Before everyone dispersed back to their activities, Wicked raised a point.

"I think Prince's singing greatly satisfies the fans, but his dancing is seriously lacking."

All the presents stared at him. Prince innocently, but everyone else with a weird look on their faces. Lolidragon with a wicked grin, Phoenix throwing daggers from her eyes, and Gui…

"How do you dare to criticize Prince?", Gui was almost shouting at him.

"I'm just pointing out something that might interfere with the band's performance. " Wicked replied coldly. "It can be easily overcome with practice."

"You don't care about the band!" Now Gui was definitely shouting. "You just want to keep me away from my Prince!"

Wicked was about to give a fierce retort, and Phoenix was on the verge of joining the fight. Things would soon get ugly. Fairsky leaned against Sunshine, happy she didn't took part in these weird fights anymore.

But before the fight could actually start, Prince said in an icy tone.

"If you think my singing requires more practice, Gui, you just have to say that."

Gui's eyes seemed to be filling with tears.

"Your Highness…"

"By the way, I don't remember allowing you to call me 'your' Prince."

No one looked very surprised or very upset when Prince began giving Gui a trashing.

That is, no one except Ling.

Her brain had unplugged before the trashing started. If this was not the case, she might have gone berserk and tried to give _Prince_ a trashing. No, her brain had unplugged when no one had reacted to the way Gui was… Gui was…

That was it. Her brain had gone unplugged in order to keep her from complete the sentence. For it was utterly unbelievable that Gui was…

…_fighting over Prince._

And she didn't need to look sideways to see that.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter End<strong>

_I think I'm finally getting used to , so from now on I hope the chapters will be easier to understand. Also, I think next chapter will have lots of explanations, but I can't actually be sure. And I think and am almost sure it won't come too soon, so sorry._

_Please review!_


	4. Chapter Two

About this chapter, I use Shakespeare because I don't know anything about Chinese literature. I could do some research, but then the chapter would be even more delayed. Plus, I'm somewhat lazy. I could also use Brazilian literature, but most readers are not acquainted with it . So English literature is the intermediate between Gui's area of expertise and my area of interest.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two:<strong> I ask of you as a friend

_In which Ling decides to fight, in her own way._

* * *

><p><em>Psychology is certainly an interesting thing. You put a younger kid among older kids, and the younger kid will soon think itself older. Then you add the fact kids always treat younger kids like babies (even if the difference is only a couple of months), and what do you have?<em>

_Ling had always been the quiet type, and it took her lots of effort to actually go there and talk to Gui. _

_"Hi", she sat in front of him in the table he occupied alone._

_"Hi", he barely moved his eyes away from the book._

_That was definitely not polite, Ling decided. Her parents always scolded her if she didn't close her book to talk to people, so why shouldn't this boy, who (in her mind) wasn't older than she was, do the same?_

_"What book are you reading?"_

_She regretted asking immediately. It was written in the cover, and she had already taken notice of it a couple of days ago, while reuniting courage to talk to him._

_"'A Midsummer Night's Dream'", he answered, still not lowering the book._

_Ling planned to wait until he elaborated, but… she was nine. She wasn't patient at all._

_"Everyone praises Shakespeare for his tragedies, but I personally like the comedies better. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is by far my favorite."_

_This had the power to make Gui stop reading. Actually, it was so effective he even closed the book and put it aside._

_"You know Shakespeare?"_

_"Well, I've never studied Shakespeare, but I've read… 'King Lear', 'The Merchant of Venice', 'Hamlet', 'Othello', 'Romeo and Juliet', these things. If I could only put my hands on 'Macbeth'… it was next in my Shakespeare list, but my parents wouldn't buy me the book."_

_Gui was staring at her._

_"How old are you?"_

_"I'm in sixth grade", she avoided the primary question._

_He was silent, and for what seemed like ages to Ling. This time she forced herself to wait. He was going to be her friend, she had decided. She wanted it more than anything and wasn't stepping back._

_And finally, Gui spoke._

_"If you want to read 'Macbeth'… I can lend you my copy."_

_Ling beamed. In kid's psychology, sharing your toys means you're now friends._

* * *

><p><em>Present time, real life<em>

Ling entered the café where she and Gui had arranged to meet and spotted him right away. Gui was correcting a stack of papers, looking very concentrated. The sight made her recall the earlier stages of their friendship. At that time, Gui could spend five or ten whole minutes without even noticing her presence and keep doing whatever he was doing. But time changed things.

Hearing the door bell ring, Gui looked briefly at the person coming in. As soon as his mind registered it was Ling, he dropped the pen and stood up to compliment her. They exchanged a quick hug and sat down by the table. A waitress immediately appeared to take their orders. When she left they began chatting.

"So, it's been what? Five years?" Ling asked, as if she wasn't counting the weeks ever since Gui's departure.

_When Ling had first approached Gui, she had thought they were equals, since both were two years advanced in school. After their first conversations, she realized she was wrong. He was in a completely different level. She was only very smart, but Gui was a genius . He could easily have skipped high school, but they wouldn't admit him in the university at twelve, so he was forced to attend all three years of high school._

_Sometimes Ling was scared by Gui's intelligence but… hadn't she decided she was going to be friends with him? And then she worked her hardest, trying to close the gap between them._

_Every year she studied hard, trying to convince the principal and her parents she could skip the next year, hoping one day she'd be in the same class as Gui, but she never managed to skip even one years (besides the two she was already advanced). This way, she entered the university two years after Gui had, and the gap started widening. He graduated in three years, she took four. When he was twenty-two and she twenty, he received his doctorate and went to study overseas. She was still struggling to get a master degree._

_One year after he left, Ling went to complete her studies in a foreign university. Having found a job in her area, she stayed abroad for longer than she needed to, saving money for a future doctorate and taking a break from the student life._

"Almost that." Gui agreed.

"You know, it wouldn't have seemed like such a long time if you had bothered answering my e-mails." Ling noted, trying not to sound bitter. She had e-mailed Gui once each three or six weeks. In the beginning, they were letter-like e-mails, telling the news, asking the news and these things. But he never replied. Then she thought he just didn't have time to write complete responses, so she started with shorter e-mails, things Gui could reply with just one line. But no reply came.

Ling was sure he was receiving her e-mails. She even asked his mother if he didn't have another e-mail address she could write to. He didn't. So why he didn't e-mailed her at least once? Maybe she had said or done something to make him mad? But she couldn't imagine anything she could do to enrage Gui for five years. The simplest explanation was… _out of sight, out of mind._ Her best friend couldn't forget her in five years, could he?

"Oh, well, I just didn't have anything to write about. Without you around the only thing I could do was study all the time, and I wasn't going to e-mail you only to tell I was studying."

What a lame excuse…

"You should have." Ling said. "I wanted you to. Even if I am away I want you to tell me things, even boring things."

Seeing she was serious and somewhat pained, Gui started apologizing.

"Ling, I'm sorry, I…"

"Don't be sorry." She said sternly. "Just don't do it again." Then she smiled, as if telling Gui there was no ill-will towards him anymore. "You are my friend, you are part of my life. And I want to be part of your life as well."

"Right." Gui agreed.

"Then you can start now."

"Huh, start what?"

"Telling me what happened to you in the last five years!"

Gui laughed. He had almost forgotten the feeling of laughing and talking freely about whatever he wanted. That is, in real life. In Second Life he was always (or mostly) himself, but he had almost forgotten he could still be himself in real life.

Life had been tough on him. Being a genius meant he could accomplish lots of things easily, but also meant people would look at him with envy and jealousy. Being targeted by hostile looks had made him wary, and he would never reveal his true feelings in front of other people. The few times he tried to give It a chance, he had messed things up talking about something complicated that he found actually very simple, and people would resent, thinking he just wanted to show up.

With Ling things were never like this. She understood of almost any subject he brought upon the conversation, and when she didn't, she was eager to learn. Her insatiable curiosity had put in check even his genius mind, forcing him to read more, research more, study more in order to answer some of her questions.

* * *

><p>Hours passed in a very pleasant way, but a small, white-haired, red-eyed elven subject never left Ling's mind.<p>

"Then, Gui, when were you planning to tell me about Prince?"

Gui stopped with his teacup mid air, and his face showed conflicting emotions.

"I wasn't."

"Why not?"

"Because… there's nothing to tell you about?"

Ling sighed.

"This conversation is starting to walk in circles. Didn't I tell you already? That I want to hear about all of your 'nothings'?"

Gui smiled sheepishly.

"Okay, but, you're not going to like it…"

"You're right, I won't. I have my personal beliefs about this guy and another guy thing, and seeing my best friend - who had never fallen for any girl - go this way… annoys me. But you know what annoys me most?"

Gui shook his head.

"It's how you… sorry for the word, but is the only one I can think of… _humiliate_ yourself before Prince."

An uncomfortable silence was created between the friends. Then Gui spoke.

"I've already thought about that. You don't have to apologize for your choice of words. It _is_ humiliating. But it's the only way to catch his attention."

Sighing again, Ling said.

"Then, you better tell me how this Prince fellow came to be so important to you."

And Gui told her.

* * *

><p>Ling rested her cup in the table in a very collected manner.<p>

"Then, your Honor, what's the verdict?" Gui asked. He couldn't help but find Ling's serious face slightly amusing.

"Guilty."

"Why? It was not my fault… it just… happened."

"Wrong, Gui. Love is a living thing, love is… like a seed. Even though we don't plant it, we can prepare the ground. And when it's planted, it's up to us take care of it or let it wither and die. You choose taking care of it. By pretending to like Prince you even prepared the ground. Which remembers me…"

Suddenly Ling's hand was in Gui's ear, twitching it so hard that Gui's eyes began watering.

"You disappointed me, Min Gui Wen. I've never thought my best friend was a heartless bastard capable of playing with a person's -man, woman, or homo - emotions. _That_ is the crime I declare you guilty for."

"I repented! It may have started as a fake, but now my feelings for Prince are genuine! I am truly sorry!"

_Then apologize._ Ling thought, but held back the words. It was too soon… She let go of Gui's ear.

"Okay, but you better never do something like this again."

"I won't." He promised, massaging his ear.

When the pain stopped, Gui just let out a heavy sigh.

"I just wish Prince would take my feelings more seriously."

"Can't help you with that, friend."

"Can't help me following a path you consider wrong, you mean."

Ling shrugged matter-of-factly. What else could she do? Specially knowing there was a little more than her personal convictions at stake. But, not willing to let the situation get awkward, she asked.

"Gui, if Infinite City, hypothetically, had a secret service or intelligence agency, what would you name it?"

"Infinite City Intelligence Agency?"

"No! It has to be a cool acronym… "

* * *

><p><em>Second Life<em>

Ling loved taking photos. She had bought a photo golem in the accessory shop and since then she'd been visiting every place in Infinite City and taking photos. Today was the day of visiting the bow and arrow practicing site, where the archers from Infinite Army trained.

She also loved the zoom button. The zoom button had the wonderful property of making her pictures look inconspicuous. She could pretend to be taking a picture of a great area, but in reality be zooming and focalizing in just one person. This way, she could catalogue all the subjects of interest, without they trying to shield from the camera.

"Wow, that was a great shoot!" Then, all that was left was to approach the subjects of interest.

"I've been practicing all day." The archer she had just complimented thanked.

"I find archers very cool." Ling continued. "Like that history about the guy who shot an arrow in an apple that was over his friend's head. I always wanted to see something like that."

"Well, I can't do something like that. Not yet. But I bet I'll be able to when my level and accuracy are higher."

"You've been playing Second Life for long?"

"Since it's been released."

"Cool. In which city you started?"

Before he could answer, a hand grabbed Ling by the shoulder and started pulling her always.

"I'm Ling Niu, nice to meet you!" she still managed to shout.

"I'm Robin Hood, PM me!" the boy answered.

When the archer training camp wasn't on sight anymore, Ling sighed.

"Robin Hood, what a _creative_ name for an archer… Why did you grab me like this, White Bird? If you wanted a reunion, you could have just PMed me and I would be in your office in no time."

"It's been three weeks since ICIA was created. I want to know when you're going to start to _work_, for these last few weeks you've been just playing around."

Ling frowned. _Of course_ she'd been playing. Second Life was a _game_. But White Bird seemed very angry, so she decided it wasn't safe tell it to her.

"I am working. You even _interrupted_ my work, for right there I was in middle of an interrogatory. And don't call the organization ICIA. I'm going to find a better name."

White Bird didn't look convinced.

"What were you interrogating him for?".

"You know, I have very few courses of action available right now. Infinite City Intelligence Agency came into existence a little too late, and we'll have to catch up. We need to 'clean the inner vase' by checking if none of the people that already work and live in Infinite City are traitors or spies. Then we need to check people who are arriving. We need an overall view of plans and projects from all departments, in order to know what _our_ side is doing, and finally infiltrate our spies in the enemy rolls, in order to know what the _other _side is doing. And all of this is just for the time being. And you know what the major problem is, Madam White Bird?"

Ling paused dramatically (or was probably just catching her breath).

"The major problem is that I've been talk about 'we' and 'us', but there is not 'we' nor 'us'. I'm all alone with the whole Central Continent to investigate. So I'm recruiting. Of course I can't just put up some posters 'ICIA wants you!', because it is a secret organization, and I want it to remain secret."

With a do-you-have-any-questions look, Ling stopped talking. White Bird was actually impressed by Ling's efforts, but she still wanted to see results.

"Did you recruit someone already?".

"No. It's quite hard to find the types that fit in the job description. But I have a few names on my mind, and I'm planning to submit them by the end of the week."

"Well, you can show me them now."

"Ahn, actually… you got it wrong." Seeing White Bird's bemused look, Ling explained. "See, the secret service is an _independent_ part of the military department. Then, as head of the secret service, I don't answer to _you_. I answer to the liege lord, directly, and only to him."

"But… the liege lord is not aware of the existence of Infinite City Intelligence Agency. At least… not yet."

"Oh, he'll know when I send him the first report." Ling said matter-of-factly, and after saying so she walked away, leaving a impressed/confused/angry White Bird behind her.

* * *

><p>"Wicked, can I have a few minutes of your time?" Ling peeked inside the military department.<p>

"Of course, come in."

"Actually, I need to talk to you in private."

Even with a reluctant look that showed he didn't think whatever Ling was going to talk to him was _that_ important, Wicked followed her to an empty room.

"Wicked, do you love Prince?" The girl went straight to the point.

He made a that-is-none-of-your-business face, and was about to say it aloud, when Ling interrupted.

"It _is_ of my business, because I don't want Gui and Prince t stay together. Do _you_ want them to stay together?"

"No." Wicked didn't raise his voice, but his denial was fervent.

"Then answer me. Do you love Prince?"

"I do."

"But I'm not talking about just liking someone. I'm talking about really loving someone and wanting t spend the rest of your life with that person."

"That's how I feel about him."

"Great. Because if your feelings are genuine, then I can't consider what we're going to do wrong."

"What we're going to…?"

"We will separate Gui and Prince."

"They are _not _together." Wicked clinched his teeth.

"For how long?" Ling's tone was urgent. "Do you think Gui will just sit idle while waiting for Prince to decide which of you he likes? He'll most certainly do something, and he'll fight with everything he's got. So you've gotta do something first, while you have the upper hand…"

"Wait." Wicked interrupted. "Why are you so worked u about this? What do you gain separating them?"

Staring at Wicked as if he was an idiot, she answered.

"I gain Gui."

Things finally started t make sense in Wicked's head, and Ling elaborated.

"Or, at least, I get the chance to console my best friend from his love delusions and then maybe, just maybe, he'll realize how much I care for him and how well suited for each other we are."

"Right, but why are you resorting to me to do something? Can't you d something yourself?"

Ling rolled her eyes, but still managed to explain patiently.

"The one _I_ like already likes someone, but the one _you_ like is still undecided. Henceforth, you have more ground to maneuver. Furthermore, I assume you already confessed to Prince?" She waited until his confirmation, then proceeded. "While Gui is still in blissful ignorance about my feelings over him. Do you still have any doubts about why you are the more adequate candidate to proceed in the execution f this operation?"

"…"

"Good. Then, like I was saying, you gotta do something while you have the upper hand. You know Prince in real life, right?"

"How do you…"

"You told Gui, and Gui told me. So, since you know Prince, use it to your advantage. Ask him out or something."

Wicked hesitated. It seemed like he was afraid of taking such a serious step. Ling saw she was going to have to convince him.

"Wicked, are you familiar with The Beatles?"

"No…"

"They have a song called 'You're Going To Lose That Girl', which lyrics, I think, apply perfectly to your situation. Just imagine Gui singing it, okay?

_If you don't take her out tonight,  
>She's gonna change her mind,<br>And I will take her out tonight,  
>And I will treat her kind.<em>

You don't want that, do you?"

Wicked said nothing, but the answer in his eyes was obvious.

"Then, I'm asking you, as a person who shares a common interest: do something."

Solemnly, Wicked promised.

"I will."


	5. Chapter Three

_I'm sorry for the delay. Thanks for everyone who reviewed, your reviews motivate me a lot (and the more motivated I am, the sooner I'll finish the next chapter, so please, review!)._

_For those who said Ling must not succeed, for Gui and Lan are meant to be together, I can only say: try to guess why this fanfic is called "Catalyst". That's all I can say without spoilers._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three:<strong> Prince is a Girl and its Implications.

_In which some unknown engine in Ling's mind is kicked into motion, making her guess a few things rightly. In which a chain reaction occurs. In which some unknown engine in Gui's mind is kicked into motion, making him guess a lot of things rightly._

* * *

><p><em>*** Part I – Action ***<em>

Days after that, Ling was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. That night was the night she was going to meet Prince and see with her own eyes the famous liege lord of Infinite City. From the data she had gathered on him, she was curious. It was obvious Prince was some sort of nice and easy going moron, but only his close friends knew about this. Other people viewed him as the merciless Blood Elf or as a very composed gentleman and inspired ruler. Ling smirked, trying to guess which face Prince would show her.

Then, suddenly, her smirk turned off. Had Wicked already talked to Prince? She wished he had, otherwise, it would be checkmate for her. Wicked was the last pawn who could move in the board, and he had the potential to become a knight and take down (or elope with) the enemy queen (or Prince). But for that he had to take initiative, otherwise…

_You're gonna loooooose that girl…_

Because Prince hadn't choose, and that was the point. Gui had already chosen Prince, so there was _nothing_ she could do about it, no matter how much she liked him or how much she considered him liking Prince wrong. But if Prince chose Wicked… then Gui also could do nothing.

That's why Wicked had to _do_ something. A positive action always wins against a negative action. Getting Prince and Wicked together = positive, getting Gui and Prince separated = negative.

Plus, and Ling blamed herself for that thought, she couldn't do anything to hurt Gui. She loved that moron so much that she would help and support him in everything, except… the same way she wouldn't help him to commit a murder or light a cigarette, because murder an smoking are bad, she couldn't help him with Prince. She already felt like a traitor for that. So just let Wicked do the not-so-dirty work.

Ling shook her head. "Stop sulking already, you've got work to do." Then she reached for her gaming helmet.

Even so, she hadn't dropped the subject, but chosen another light to examine the matter. She logged in Second Life with thoughts of: "What would a couple of guys do in a date?"

* * *

><p><em>Second Life<em>

It is not certain about exactly when or how Ling made her discovery. Maybe it was a natural product of her trail of thought, while checking the profiles of potential agents, maybe it was only a sudden feminine intuition, maybe a divine messenger whispered it in her ear while she was dozing off over the paperwork. Whatever it was, the result was the same: Ling was furious.

At Prince.

* * *

><p>In Infinite Castle, Infinite Band was practicing for the upcoming concert they would hold to finance the upcoming war.<p>

Ling got there when the practice was almost over, so she sat in a nearby chair, waiting for Prince to be free for their appointment. They had already gone through all new songs Gui had written, but Yulian wasn't going to let them end the practicing session a full ten minutes earlier.

"Do you have any song you'd like to sing, Prince?"

The elf tensed before her smile and looked always. Then his face lit up.

"It's my life." He glanced at Fairsky and Phoenix, and they nodded. They could play that one easily.

The familiar chords stroked the air and Ling felt her anger towards Prince diminish. At last he had a good taste to music. That was what Ling was thinking, until the moment Prince started to sing.

* * *

><p>As the last notes disappeared in the air, Prince opened his eyes, which had been closed since the beginning of the music, so lost the elf was in the lyrics. He heard when Yulian-dasao finally dismissed them and scanned the small audience that had gathered during the practice. There were Wolf and Yulian; Sunshine, who was already leaving with Fairsky; Lolidragon, wearing a sincere appreciation smile with just a hint of a plan to make something outrageous; Feng Wu Qing was there too, trying to show an unimpressed fashion, but looking quite proud of his sister and her band; and also… a girl Prince didn't know, staring at him like she had never seen a boy in her whole life. She stood and began walking in his direction.<p>

_Not__again__…_ Prince felt a shiver run down his spine as he remembered days and nights running away from fan girls. _Try__to__look__like__top__quality__merchandise,__try__to__look__like__top__quality__merchandise__…_ Repeating this like a mantra, he put on his most charming smile.

"May I have the pleasure to help you, lady?"

The girl stopped. She looked around quickly, only to confirm she and Prince were alone. All spectators and members of the band had walked off (or, in Gui's case, been dragged off) to their departments, where they still had plenty of work to do.

"You sang wonderfully." She said. "I would have fallen in love with you… if I didn't know you're a girl in real life."

* * *

><p>Prince's portfolio, 30 silver coins. A ticket to see Infinite Band performing, 10 gold coins. Prince's face when Ling said those words… it's priceless.<p>

Even if his mouth said "Of course not! What the heck are you talking about?", all his body language shouted "How did you discover?". Ling smiled. Outside it looked like a smile of triumph, but it was actually closer to relief. She was right. Prince being a girl was the weirdest idea she could have come up with, and yet she was right.

"Why don't we discuss this matter in your office? We already have to go there for our appointment, anyway." She suggested.

"Our appointment…?" Prince took a few seconds to make the connections. "That means you are… Ling?"

"That's right. I see White Bird informed you. Ling Niu, recently appointed chief of Infinite City Secret Service, at your orders, sir."

After listening to Lings explanations, Prince agreed that an Intelligence Agency was a good idea. And after having his secret uncovered, he was sure Ling was the right person for the job.

Like White Bird, she really fit in the personage she had to play for her job. Ling could be a secret agent or even a mafia boss. But at least she didn't require him to play the part of a dignified, wise overlord.

Then they discussed the plans ICIA (Ling finally gave up finding a better name) had for the near future. These plans included:

1 – Recruitment. (Form an army)

2 – Making a census. (Knowing yourself)

3 – Sending spies to other cities. (Knowing your enemy)

And Ling promised to give Prince the names she had been considering for recruitment. Only ICIA's chief and the liege lord himself should be aware of the identities of the agents.

Thus, having finished the ICIA business, Ling spoke.

"So, I guess the only matter we have to discuss now is the matter about your true gender."

Prince became startled again.

"Please, don't tell anyone, I…"

"I won't tell anyone. I've just been appointed as chief of a division who answers directly to the liege lord, so of course I can keep the liege lord's secrets." Prince was about to thank her when she proceeded. "But there is at least one person to whom _you_ must tell it, if you have any shred of decency."

"You have to tell Gui. He _loves_ you. He loves you so much he's constantly humiliating himself before you, just to catch your attention. He _deserves_to know. All those sad songs about unrequired love he wrote for Infinite Band, they were about _you_. So he deserves to know, if not _who_ you are, at least _what_you are."

Prince tried to interrupt.

"I can't…"

"Oh, you can, and oh, you will. Letting him in the darkness would be cruel. If you don't love him, let him go. Give him the right to go and try to mend his heart while it's not irreversibly broken. Tell him."

With watery, pleading eyes, Prince said.

"Not Gui. Not Gui of all people."

"Tell him."

And she left the other girl – Prince – fighting the tears that came with guilty, while she was herself fighting a feeling of helplessness. What she had told Prince – about letting someone go – was pretty much what she wanted Gui to do to her. She wished he would understand she loved him, and stop being so… so… stop being that guy she fell in love with every single time she put her eyes on him… so that she could go away and love someone else.

* * *

><p>*** Part II – Reaction ***<p>

Nor Prince nor Ling cried.

Both girls logged off from Second Life with a lot in their minds.

Lan got up and had already started preparing breakfast when Yang Ming came out of his room with the usual cries of "Sis, make me breakfast!". This was unusual, since ever since she'd become a busy liege lord she used to log off only in the last minute. This, plus her distant and worried face, made Yang Ming realize something was wrong and be quiet. He wasn't going to provoke her when she had a sharp knife in her hand and troubles enough in her mind. So he ate in silence.

In Lan's mind, Ling's words echoed icily. Sometimes she really felt bad for Gui, but Ling's words had been an external confirmation of the one truth she was afraid the most: she'd been hurting Gui.

It was like a punch in the stomach, and she wondered whether telling Gui she was a girl would easy this gruesome feeling or not.

* * *

><p>Ling, on her side, was expecting Prince's secret identity – whoever she was – to go through some sort of internal struggle, but she wasn't going to trust that the girl would simply go there and talk to Gui. The situation was just too… awkward.<p>

So, she decided, she was going to tell Gui herself. As soon as it seemed fit.

* * *

><p>In the end, Lan took almost two weeks to make her decision. Two weeks in which she barely saw Gui in Second Life, since they were both occupied with the preparations for the battle to take Moon City. It would be in three days (nights). So, between practicing with the band, signing papers, being targeted by the mysterious assassins and harassed by Lolidragon, Prince hadn't had any time to give a good look in Gui.<p>

Lan tried to compensate glancing every now and then to Professor Ming. She didn't dare to stare, because if he noticed her staring, he could also notice _her_. Too risky. And also useless. Professor Ming was unreadable. He was such a composed face, so serious and intelligent, so different from her Gui… from the Gui she knew, she corrected.

What made her to decide was one particular part of Ling's speech. The part about letting him go, before she ended breaking his heart. Actually, Ling had said Gui's heart was _already_ broken, and Prince should let him go before the situation was irreversible. This escaped Lan, but if the reason was that she wasn't given to such subtleties or just that she didn't want to know, no one would ever be able to tell.

And that was it, Lan thought, and swallowed. That night, Prince was going to tell Gui he (she?) was a girl.

* * *

><p>The recruitment had kept Ling busy for about two weeks, but now she had a handful of valuable agents to take care of things, and the responsibility wasn't solely on her shoulders anymore. So, with her small and recently acquired free time, she was going to do it.<p>

That night she was going to talk to Gui.

* * *

><p>Ling was faster.<p>

Of course, having Gui's number helped. They met in that cafe they had met before. As per usual, Gui had a stack of papers and a red pen he dropped as soon as Ling entered the cafe.

"Has it ever occurred to you that, if you didn't gave your students so much homework to do, you wouldn't have so many papers to correct?" That was Ling's way of saying "Hi."

"Yes, it has. But since I haven't figured yet another efficient way to make them study and check if they're learning, I guess I'll have to stick to this method."

Chat, chat, chit chat, and finally, to the point.

"Gui." Ling's tone became serious.

He nodded. He was serious too.

"I'm still mad at you because of what you did to Prince. I wasn't going to say anything, but now I realized I must. You have to tell him about how everything started as a sick joke, and how your feelings changed and became sincere."

"Why this all of a sudden?"

There was a pause. Staring into Gui's eyes, she said.

"Because Prince is a girl."

A look of utter disbelief.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Yes, I did, but… how would be that even possible?"

"I don't know. But it is a fact."

Ling seemed stubbornly convinced she was right, and knowing her as he did, Gui changed the approach.

"Okay, say Prince _is_ a girl. How would _you_ know that?"

"Because Wicked isn't gay." She said simply.

One second. Two seconds.

Gui wished there was at least five of him, so he could express all his objections at once. Ling realized she would have to elaborate.

"Girls usually know these things. But of course I wouldn't say it if I haven't a little more evidence than simple feminine intuition. Then, first. I talked to Wicked a few times in game, and even once in real life. He didn't _feel_ gay. Second. I investigated almost every inhabitant of Infinite Castle, Wicked included. I questioned friends and family, subordinates and higher ups. Nothing came up. Third. He's in the military department. In these branches of activity where man are required to be strong and brave, there's always many degrees off homophobia running wild, like that concept that a guy has to be big, muscular and hairy, as if delicate, unbearded pretty faces wouldn't be as strong or as brave. You know, macho men psychology."

Gui nodded. He was familiar with the concept.

"And yet," Ling continued "he hasn't been victim of any kind of prejudice. Even though he likes Prince. The ones who don't know don't speculate, the ones who know ignore the fact. And that's unnatural. Something _ought_ to come up, because no power in the known universe can stop people from gossiping. So, my conclusion is: there was, in first place, nothing to gossip about. Wicked was never gay, so Prince is a girl."

Having finished to present her arguments, Ling waited. And Gui thought.

It was an interesting sight, seeing the genius make his mental work. You could almost hear the thoughts and trails of thought forming, connecting, than disconnecting and disappearing, then forming again.

In the end, he was unconvinced.

"Whatever." Ling shrugged. "You don't have to believe me. He you tell you himself if he ever thinks you deserve to know. But before that, I _should_ talk to him about the circumstances you first met."

"I can't! He would hate me!"

"Yes, he would. But the sooner he is angered, the sooner his anger you be appeased. You have to do so, otherwise you'll never be forgiven."

"But if I never tell him, I won't _have_ to be forgiven, I…"

"Don't you understand, Gui?" Ling was finally getting impatient. She was trying to help him to get closer to the girl he wanted – even if he refused to believe she was a girl – and even knowing that this way she would never be with Gui herself. She wished she could _only_ plot and scheme, without any thought about moral or fair competition. But she wasn't like this. If Prince was a girls, she didn't have any reason to stop him from being with Gui. Besides she loving Gui, that is. But she _was_ Gui's best friend. She _had_ to help him around his love affairs. She wasn't going to risk their friendship for nothing. Never.

"Don't you understand that this is the only way for Prince to realize your love for him is serious?"

"But… But I have told him! Countless times."

At Gui's discomposed face, Ling shook her head.

"Prince doesn't know you at all, Gui. All he's seen was your scandalous acts and passionate outbursts. He takes you for a fool and light-hearted person, without knowing your every word is weighted, and your every move is significant."

Gui was silent. That was true, he realized. When he smiled viciously and provoked Prince, he knew what he had been doing. He knew that, when he said "I love you and I can't stand to be apart from you", he was being serious, even if the only way he managed to say these words was in a scandalous outburst. But Prince, he did not know of any of these things.

And it wasn't his fault. Prince was just too open, too honest. He always showed his true feelings in his face. But Gui didn't. Even when he was free from the social restraints he had in real life, he was the kind who put a mask and only taking it off when the mascarade was over. The difference was that in Second Life he _chose_ the mask he'd wear. And that mask had been the happy and carefree bard Guileastos.

If he wanted Prince to take his feeling seriously, he had to tell him all the truth.

And it was going to be that night.

* * *

><p><em>Second Life<em>

Both Gui and Prince were so occupied worrying about the confessions they were going to make and the truths they were about to reveal, that one managed to not notice the other's preocupied expression. They subtly surrounded each other all night, looking for the right moment for the revelation. In the end, the two of them decided to wait for as close from waking time as they could. A buzzing clock alarm was always a good excuse to log off back into safety.

They met almost accidentally under the arches that lined the courtyard of the castle.

"Gui, I..."

"Prince, I..."

They stopped. Prince felt perplexed at Gui's serious and sad tone, and even more perplexed at the absence of the usual "Your Highness!". His resolution faltered, and Gui took his chance to speak.

"Prince, I... I haven't been honest with you."

Prince felt cheated. That was _his_ line! _He_ was supposed to make a revelation tonight, not Gui. He opened his mouth, but Gui didn't gave him the opportunity to speak.

"Please, let me tell you the whole story first. I know you will hate me afterwards, and I know I deserve to be hated, but please, let me tell the whole story first."

Seeing how anguished Gui was, Price nodded in agreement. And Gui started.

"Prince, I love you." Those were Gui's first words. For Prince they were striking.

And, for some reason the elf didn't understood completely... warm.

"But I haven't been honest with you about how it began. I haven't been honest with you about the first time we met. Even though _today_ I can say I love you, it happened with time, and not at the very moment I put my eyes upon you..."

It wasn't too bad, Prince thought. That was, until Gui had finished his sentence.

"... at that moment, the only thing in my mind was my own entertainment, and I am deeply sorry to say I was making fun of you."

Then the warmth was gone.

* * *

><p>Prince's face became a mask, so Gui wasn't able to notice any change as he elaborated, telling the whole story about he thinking Prince was a homo and wanting to tease him,<p>

and how his feelings began to change and he really fell in love for the young elf. That part didn't sink into Prince's understand. He'd stopped listening way earlier.

To think, Prince felt tears forming in his eyes, I was going to tell my secret to this idiot and apologize. To think I was worried I'd hurt his feelings. He had...

"...no feelings at all." He caught himself speaking aloud. Apparently, he couldn't hold back both tears and words at the same time, and he _was__not_ going to cry in front of the bard.

"What?"

"I said", and Prince's voice was getting louder and louder, "you have no feelings at all. You just care for yourself, and all you want is too have fun because you think you're just too intelligent and people around you are just too boring. And you try to convince yourself you were doing nothing wrong because you thought I was gay, but you can't do things like this, you can't mess up with a girl's heart! I HATE YOU!"

And with these words, Prince logged off.

* * *

><p>Gui stood there, looking at the spot where the elf had disappeared in thin air. He could swear he had seen tears in Prince's eyes, and he could not forgive himself for that. But while 90% of his mind was catatonic, trying to grasp Prince's sudden absence, the remaining ten percent was working perfectly and with this ten percent he was still a genius. 10% of Gui's mind realized something wrong with Prince's outburst.<p>

With only ten percent, it took a while to sort out what it was.

_...you can't mess up with a girl's heart!_

_You__can't__mess__up__with_a girl's_heart!_

A girl's.

A girl.

And that was how Gui suddenly realized Prince was a girl. He would have fought the idea, if Ling hadn't suggested exactly the same thing a few hours earlier.

And Prince being a girl had _lots_ of implications.

* * *

><p>70% of his mind was still catatonic from the conversation with Prince, but the other thirty percent were analyzing the new discovery.<p>

_Prince is always annoyed at fan-grils._

_He had kissed Phoenix an Fairsky._

_Prince was not Feng Wu Qing._

_Prince had stared intently at the naked bodies of the men in the public bath that no one dared to go anymore._

_Prince..._

His trail of thought was just too fast, even if his mind was only at 30%. And after a short while it began walking in circles.

Then, there Gui stood, with his mind tied in an endless loop, when – by some chance process or due to the very nature of his geniality – a new connection was made.

He let out two words in a very muffled voice, before logging off in a sudden rush.

The two words:

_Feng Lan._

* * *

><p><strong>End of chapter. <strong>_Please note that writing scenes of shocking revelations is not my strong point. PLEASE review._


	6. Chapter Four

Okay, what happened to my reviews? I DO want your opinions, so I can improve! I corrected most grammar mistakes, kindly pointed out by vheer, but other things are meant to be just the way they are. So, I beg you, all of you... Review!

**Chapter Four: Gui and Lan**

_In which Gui displays burglary skills. In which the hare outruns the tortoise (yes, this is a metaphor). In which Ling does not appear much._

* * *

><p><p>

_Second Life_

"Wicked, please tell me you have already invited him to a date."

When Ling had asked him to discuss some urgent matters, Wicked already knew she was just making up an excuse to talk to him about Gui and Prince. He just didn't expected the question to snap out of her mouth as soon as the door of ICIA's new office (disguised as file storage room) closed.

"I have." He answered promptly.

Ling was about to smile, pleased, when a more practical side of her mind reminded asking.

"And how was it?".

"..."

"I don't want you to tell me anything private." She quickly added. "I just want to know if Prince is starting to like you, maybe analyze some of his reactions."

"No, there was nothing... private. Actually... I wasn't even alone with him. I couldn't get rid of his brother." Wicked's face became murderous with the memory.

_Note__to__myself:__Prince-girl__has__a__brother,_Ling thought. Then she focused on Wicked again. Her face must have been very easy to read, because he said, before she could even open her mouth.

"I have already talked to him in game. He won't interfere next time."

"And when will it be next time?"

"You can't rush these things." He looked exasperated, but since Ling looked more exasperated than he did, he completed. "But I can assure you it will be as soon as possible."

"I hope 'as soon as possible' is really very soon, Wicked. Gui's been acting weirdly, so you should keep an eye on him."

This time Wicked snapped.

"Why don't _you_ keep an eye on him? Isn't he _your_ friend? You could keep him occupied for me!"

Ling was in shock. She lowered her head and took a deep breath. When she spoke, her voice was collected.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

_Because__I__am__no__gambler..._ she thought. But that was the truth so condensed Wicked wouldn't be able to understand it. She kept her head lowered, thinking of ways to elaborate that sentence in something that he would understand.

Wicked, tough, wasn't very patient with her silence.

"Why not?", he pressed.

"Because he is... well... Let's say Prince falls in love with someone and goes to you seeking for love advice. How would you feel about that."

Wicked didn't answer, but she didn't need to hear his answer. Ling proceeded.

"And yet, would you be able to deny him your help? Would you be able to give him treacherous advice, so his love affair would end badly and he'd seek you for consolation? Would you be able to stand in the way of his seek for happiness, even if his happiness is not by your side?"

This time she waited for him to say something. Reluctantly, he let out a faint "no".

"Same with me. Gui is my best friend, and the only thing that would make me happier than seeing him with the person that he loves is..." she lowered her voice so it would not break "... being the person that he loves."

Wicked said nothing, nor did he look impressed. He left ICIA's office and closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p><p>

_Real Life_

Feng Lan was distressed. Or, more likely, she was furious, but was hiding most of her fury under the mask of distress.

Gui, that idiot... she eyed Professor Ming angrily and then looked away fast. In real life he played all adult and smart, and in game he acted all nice and... and cute and... and what he really was was a heartless person who could play with a girl's feelings. Or a gay's feelings, since that was he thought the first time he'd met Prince. She was so furious... she had even thought about ditching his classes, but then someone could find it weird and demand a explanation.

That was why she had kept coming to his lectures these past three days, but even if her fury was hidden, her distress was more than evident, and even Yun knew better than to bother her when she was in that sort of mood.

Gui, that idiot...

Ming Gui Wen glanced towards his students quickly, letting his eyes linger just a little more in the direction he knew Feng Lan's desk was. She looked so pissed of... In fact, she looked so exactly like her game-self when she was pissed of... Again, he felt something revolving in his stomach.

Ever since his sudden moment of realization three days ago this feeling of sickness had come and gone at least twice every minute. It was a feeling of sickness that came with the realization of a few certain truths that accompanied Prince's true identity.

He had mistook Prince for Feng Wu Quing.

Rephrase that, he had mistook Feng Lan for her twin _brother_. Any girl would be mad at him for this, right? Or, at least, she must have taken him for a fool.

And when he was almost managing to reassure himself on this matter, he remembered another thing.

He had been on a date with Prince.

Not only that, he had declared his unyielding love for Prince in front of Prince, with that talk about the thorny rose and everything else...

And Feng Lan had laughed. What on earth did that mean? And why had she tricked him into dating her in the first place?

These and other questions would torture him endlessly while he gathered courage to do what he must.

Prince was mad at him? Right. Prince absolutely wouldn't talk to him in game? Fine. Then he would talk to her in real life. He was almost done with his plan, and the perspective of action was the only thing that could appease his turning stomach.

Zhuo Lin Bin was on his way to Lan's house, to their dancing practice. He smiled, pleased to know Gui would never see what she was like in real life. Lan dancing was... so much better than Prince.

He closed his eyes and visualized her brows furrowing in concentration, her ponytail swinging to the rhythm, her hair getting messier and messier until a single black hair lock glued to her sweaty forehead.

He smiled because he was sure Gui would never have any of it.

Suddenly, he halted. His footsteps had taken him to a flower shop he had never noticed. He supposed he _could_ buy Lan a bouquet... not roses, not yet, but maybe something in summer colors, something with oranges and yellows and... sunflowers. That would be a subtle reminding, he thought.

Yet, he didn't feel sure if she would like that reminding. He wanted to prepare better the ground.

He didn't buy the flowers.

Lee Tian Lang (yeah, that's Wolf-dage for you) walked down the corridor. He was one of the last persons to call it a day in the university, since a doctor could be needed by anyone, at anytime. Then, he turned around the corner and saw Gui clicking wire in the padlock of a student's locker.

The professor didn't seem to be making any progress, since he was working with only one hand. With the other he held delicately a exuberant red rose and a paper note.

Tian Lang halted, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

"Gui? You...?" He didn't even know what questions to ask.

Gui stopped and raised his head.

"Wolf!", he exclaimed gladly. "Come here and help me with something."

Tian Lang was too shocked to discuss.

"Here, hold the flower, careful, it has thorns... and the note, please, don't read."

Now Gui could use both hands to work on the padlock.

"Gui, what are you doing?", he finally asked.

"This padlock is harder than I thought it would be. I'm starting to think I choose the wrong wires...", Gui was talking aloud to himself, but he heard the question and answered in the middle of his reasoning. "I'm trying to open this locker."

Two questions fought in Tian Lang's mind, and they reached his tongue almost at the same time.

"Why do you want to open this locker? Also... where did you learn how to break into a locker?"

Gui looked at him with a Gui-ish expression. Well, of course Gui could only make Gui-ish expressions, but that one was one he used only in game. It was a expression of pure innocence that made you wonder if he had a secret dark side.

"I? Well, there was that time when Ling and I read Houdini's biography, and we became interested in chains, locks, security vaults, and we watched movies about perfect crimes and read books about burglaries and escapism, and... well, you got it."

"Yeah, I think I did... and why do you want to break into this locker, in first the place?"

"It's Prince's locker."

Tian Lang wondered if the surprises were ever going to end.

"You have already mistook one student for Prince once.". He reminded Gui.

The teacher blushed.

"T-This time is different. This time I'm sure."

Wolf decided to let it go, and Gui resumed his work on the padlock.

Soon a louder 'click' was heard and the locker opened. Gui seemed tempted to study more carefully the contents of the locker, but he restrained himself and just placed the rose and the note carefully on top of the books. Then he closed the locker and pressed his back against it, as if he had just finished a very tiresome errand.

"That's it. Now I just have to wait."

And having said that, Gui made his way out of the university, Wolf accompanying him silently.

_Second Life_

That night was the night. Weeks of preparation, and now Infinite Army was prepared to take Moon City. Gui didn't get many chances to see Prince that night. The elf was rejoicing in the violence of the front line, while he was stuck with the archers in the rear. Lucky Wicked, who could go with Prince as a personal guard...

Prince, by his turn, was having so much fun he couldn't be mad even at Gui. That was, until meeting Fan. Fan really had a special way of ruining his mood. He played with Phoenix feelings all the time, and Prince just hated people who played with other people feelings.

Ling got to the tower of Moon City's Jewel through a secret passage, and got there in time to hear Prince scolding Fan, and Zhui start fighting the craven. After Prince and Phoenix had shattered the Jewel, she stared at the other girl.

"Ice Phoenix, don't think you'll get over with that."

Phoenix looked hurt, and Prince began trying to intervene.

"Ling, she didn't mean..."

"Prince, do you know what she just did? ICIA classified Fan as number one enemy of Infinite City, and my agents have been looking for him frantically. We've been also checking our own columns in order to prevent and or locate treason, and she... Phoenix just found the number one enemy of the state, schemed a plan together with him and disappeared to the enemy lines without no one of our faction realizing it..." Ling looked mad, and then, suddenly, she turned to Phoenix, pointing. "Ice Phoenix, ICIA wants you!"

Everyone looked confused, Phoenix more than anyone else.

"What?"

Ling answered to Prince instead.

"She has espionage and counter-espionage in her blood, I swear. She has the potential to become my very best agent!"

And so Phoenix joined the secret service, having the financial department as her cover.

_Real Life_

In the morrow, Lan got to the university just in time for her first class and didn't get a chance to stop by her locker until lunch. At lunch time, she went out to eat, and then she didn't get a chance to stop by her locker until the last but one class – Gui's class.

Lan, Jing and Yun where chatting happily about some light subject, when Lan opened her locker to deposit some books and get the ones she really needed. She gasped, and Jing and Yun silenced.

The rose was probably the most beautiful one she had ever seen, the petals a soft velvet in a rich burgundy color, unfolding to the world in a graceful cascade. Almost unconsciously, Lan stretched her arm and her hand closed around the stalk of the flower. Pain stung in her fingers. The rose was thorny, she realized.

"It's so beautiful..." Jing said, echoing Lan's thoughts. Still, Lan wished her friend had said nothing, because once the word were said the moment was gone. Carefully this time, she took the rose and smelled its fragrance. So rich, so inebriating. She closed her eyes to better appreciate the perfume, and when she opened them again she saw the note that was left there together with the flower.

Putting the rose aside delicately, Lan took the note. It was written in a vaguely familiar calligraphy.

_Prince,_

_I know you must hate me right now, and I know I really deserve so._

_I just want you to know I'm terribly sorry, and right now I only look forward for a chance of apologizing properly._

_Thus, I intend taking you to dinner next Friday._

_I can only hope that you accept my clumsy apologies then._

_Please, answer me in game._

_Yours,_

_Gui._

Gui's calligraphy, she realized. She had seen it almost everyday in the university's blackboard, and not a few times in game, in the lyric sheets he wrote. That was why it had looked familiar.

She was still mad at him. Of course, after the rose she was much less angry than she had been the day before, but she wasn't willing to accept his apologies... yet. Now she had to deal with the matter of what to answer him tonight in Second Life.

"What is this note?", Yun suddenly realized the paper in Lan's hand. "Is it fro the person who sent the flower?"

Lan quickly crumpled the note and hid it in her pocket. She felt bad for crumpling it, but she didn't want her friends to read the content. Not yet. First she had to understand the situation herself. She was so confused! Gui had sent her a note, and...

Wait... Lan gasped again, this time in realization. Gui had sent _her_ a note. _He__knew__her__secret._ She looked in the direction her next class – Gui's class – was going to be, and felt a mixture of anger and fear like she had never felt before. She _couldn't_ be in the same room with him, not knowing he knew who she was.

"It said only 'From your secret admirer'.", she said, but Jing and Yun didn't buy it. Lan wasn't, after all, a good liar. Before her friends could question her any further, Lan murmured some excuse about feeling slightly sick and soon she was running down the corridors in her out of the university.

_Second Life_

When Feng Lan didn't appear in his class earlier, Gui had almost lost control. Now he was in game, he _did_ loose control. He went out through Infinite Castle searching desperately for Prince, but he didn't manage to find the elf anywhere. He was already starting a second search, when a hand grabbed him by the robes and pulled him in another direction and a voice started saying something about going back to work. Gui was so desperate to find Prince he forgot being scared of Yulian and fought against her grip all the way to the building department.

He was brought back to reality by the sight of Sunshine. Sunshine had come with Prince from the East Continent. Maybe Sunshine knew where Prince was.

"Sunshine...", he started to ask, but stopped. He suddenly realized Sunshine wouldn't be paying attention to him, since he and Fairsky were occupied being lovey dovey. When Yulian started scolding the couple, saying there was work to be done and that they could get being lovey dovey _after_, Gui used the chance to sneak out behind her back and resume his search for the bloody liege lord of Infinite City.

When Feng Lan logged on Second Life that night, she _was_thinking about avoiding Gui. But as soon as Prince materialized in Infinite Castle, Lolidragon abducted him to another dressing-and-taking-photos torture session, so it wasn't exactly his work that the bard didn't find him until it was almost dawn and most people had already logged off.

They met in the same courtyard they had talked four nights ago.

"Your Highness!" Gui leaped forward to hug the elf, and Prince shoved him aside with a punch. For one instant Gui though things would be just like before, but that impression was dispelled when Prince didn't come to trash him in a rage. Prince just stood there, icily and breathing hard. Gui stared at him with concern in his eyes. "Prince..."

"I received your note." The elf said finally. All Gui could do was wait for him to elaborate. It seemed like a long time until he did. "How did you know? How did you know who I am?"

"I... it...", Gui wasn't very sure about what was the _appropriate_ response, so he tried his best to give the _true_ one. "It just... connected in my mind, like... it was the only thing that made sense after I learned you were a girl."

"When did you..."

"When you shouted at me, last time."

Prince frowned, concentrating, then nodded. He _had_said Gui shouldn't play with _a__girl's_ feelings.

"And what do you want from me?", he asked, annoyed.

"Just what I wrote in that note. I want to take you to dinner to apologize properly for my shameful misbehavior.", Gui's voice was soft, almost sad.

"What if I don't want to hear your apologies?"

The bard didn't have an answer to that. He could only stand still, looking into Prince's eyes. His eyes weren't quite red, Gui thought. Everyone said they were red because it was more appropriated for the Blood Elf Prince, but the color was actually closer to pink. Finally, the pink eyes smoldered and Prince's voice brought Gui back to reality. The elf sounded very tired.

"Fine, then. Apologize, if that's what you want. Take me to dinner, if that makes you feel better. I know _I_ won't, and I can't promise I won't be mad with you anymore."

Gui smiled.

"Fair enough."

They combined the place and hour they were to met on Friday, and logged off.


	7. Chapter Five

**If you bothered reading this fanfiction up until now, please review. Tell me which parts you liked, and which you didn't, and why. Fans of Wicked can suggest happy endings for him, maybe I'll use it. My own rewiew on the chapter is in the bottom.**

**-o-O-o-**

**Chapter Five** – First Date

_In which Gui and Lan speak their minds. In which a relationship moves one step ahead. In which Ling (apparently) starts considering other options. In which Ling sees something she'd rather not._

_-o-O-o-_

Min Gui Wen forced himself to sit, but for the hundredth time he got up at the sight of some dark-haired girl who happened to not be Feng Lan.

_You're being a fool._ He told himself, and it almost worked. Almost. He managed to quiet down for one whole minute, and in the next he was jerking to his feet. No, it was not her, _again_.

Min Gui Wen forced himself to sit, this time very ashamed of his behavior.

"Professor Ming?", a girl voice called behind him, and before he could help, he was standing again.

Part of him welcomed the sight of Feng Lan. The endless wait was over. Other parts of him weren't as satisfied. These parts were the ones analyzing the way Lan had dressed, trying to judge if his own apparel wasn't too formal; trying to compare Lan to her game-self; trying to read her expression and behavior; reminding him of their previous date, if you could really call it that, and reminding him of how disastrous it was. Or. At least, it seemed disastrous now.

"Feng Lan.", he greeted her.

"Am I late?", she asked.

"No, I just got here earlier."

He expected her to say something. She didn't. He was suddenly struck by the thought that she was as much in a loss of what to do as he was. Then he remembered. The restaurant.

"Shall we go?"

Lan nodded, not thrusting her voice to talk.

They walked in silence. Sometimes alongside, sometimes Gui leading. The awkwardness made the walk look longer than the two blocks between the park where they'd met and the restaurant where Gui had made a reservation.

And finally, they were sitting before each other. Following an habit, Gui ordered something, just to make the waiters busy. He didn't quite feel like eating at all. The waiter was now waiting for Lan to order. Gui saw her eyes scanning the menu, lock on a target, and saw her lips forming quietly the words "spaghetti with clams in white wine sauce". She ordered something completely different, then, as the waiter took his leave, she dropped the menu and stared at the professor with resolve in her eyes.

"So?", she asked.

"Huh?", Gui felt dumb-folded.

"Didn't you say that you had something to tell me, Professor?"

_Oh, yes, apologize, of course. That was the whole point of this meeting._ But there was something bothering him, that he must solve before he could apologize.

"You know, when we're not in class, you _can_ call me Gui.", he said.

"And why is that?", Lan looked at him stubbornly.

"Well...", Gui hesitated, then said, hoping it didn't sound lame. "All my friends call me that."

"You are not my friend."

That was so direct that he felt the urge to object, but Feng Lan never let him.

"Because my friends would never play with me the way you did. They may deny me their help, laugh at my problems, embarrass me in public or even make me go on dates I never wanted to, but they'd never play with my feelings."

That part about the dates was a little too much for Gui. Before he could help he was replying in an angry tone.

"It's not as if you weren't hiding anything from me, is it?"

"I wasn't hiding my identity from _you_. I was hiding it from _everybody_."

"Then how is it that Zhuo Lin Bin knows?"

Gui saw Lan get so angry that for a moment he almost feared she could hit him. But, surprisingly, she calmed down enough to answer in an icy tone that allowed no further discussion.

"He discovered."

Seeing she had calmed down, Gui managed to make his own tone lighter.

"I just wanted to know how you ended up being a guy in first place."

"It was sort of a stupid bet with my brother."

She told him in general lines how she got a wish granted by a GM and wanted to prove she could make things on her own. In the end Gui sighed and massaged his temples, but said nothing.

"What's up with that look of yours?", Lan demanded.

"I am just not sure if I can accept this explanation." Hearing this, Lan's temper started to rise again, but Gui didn't give her a chance. "And this meeting went completely wrong. Everything's too new and too weird... even if I were able to apologize, you wouldn't be able to forgive me, right?"

"..."

"So, let me tell you just one thing. It was never my purpose to hurt you. I can't deny that that's what I did, but it was never my purpose. Can you keep that in mind until we've both calmed down, then meet again to do things properly?"

Lan was willing to answer "no", but Professor Ming _did_ sound sincere, his blue eyes glistening through his spectacles. Suddenly she realized she quite _liked _his spectacles. At least here, when they were alone. In class, his glasses made him look more adult and serious, more distant from her... from the students, she meant. But here, with no appearances to keep, they were just glasses. Just polished lenses to correct some eye problem. She wondered if Gui's eyesight was really bad without the glasses, or if they were just for reading. He seemed somehow much more human after these considerations.

"Okay, then. See you in..." she was about to say "game", but the word died inside her. Instead she said. "... class next week. Bye, Professor Ming."

And Gui was forced to watch her going, wishing she had just said "See you in game tonight. Bye, Gui."

-o-O-o-

Two weeks after their conversation, Gui felt ready to seek Lan again. He wasn't angry about she having created a male character anymore, and was even convinced he had been the first at fault when they met. And, more importantly, he knew Lan was ready too.

In game he didn't dare to provoke her as he used to, and Prince was acting very distant. But in real life the changes were perceptible. For a few days Lan had stubbornly looked away from him every time he gazed in her direction and was always absent-minded during his classes, but slowly she started paying attention to the lectures and taking notes. He knew she was ready when she allowed herself to look at him in class.

Therefore, he left a small note in her locker (this time he didn't have to resource to burglary, he just dropped it inside through the slits) and again they combined the details in game.

-o-O-o-

"So?"

This time, Lan's question didn't caught Gui off guard.

"Feng Lan, I'm sorry. Wanting to play you with when I saw your stunned face was wrong and a proof that I am immature and egoistic." If Ling was there, she would have reminded him that "immature and egoistic" is often called being _young_. "I also want to tell you that after playing along you for all those months, I really came to admire your character... no, not Prince, I mean your personality... and I hope you can forgive me and we can be really friends."

_So, that's it. _Lan tought. _He wanna be _friends_ with me_. Because for _Prince_ it was all that talk about the thorny rose he couldn't put down, but for _her_ … She sighed. He must have been disappointed. He had such high expectations for his Prince...

"So?", Lan woke from her daydreaming to find Gui's expectant face.

"Huh?"

"So, Feng Lan, are you willing to forgive me?"

There he was again, with his sincere, sparkling blue eyes. But there was something annoying her.

"You know, you don't need to be so formal with me, Profes... Gui." She corrected herself. Then added, unsure. "I can call you Gui, can't I?"

He grinned.

"Of course you can... Lan."

"_Xiao _Lan"

"...?"

"My friends call me Xiao Lan."

Gui felt as if he was in heaven.

"But, I'll ask again. You will forgive me, Xiao Lan?"

Lan was silent for a moment.

"I forgive you. But... I just wanted to know. How did you feel when you discovered I was a girl?"

Gui was expecting everything but this question. He thought carefully about his answer, trying for the first time analyze his own feelings. He had first felt... happy. Because, for one crazy moment his brain forgot completely about his circumstances and said "Then it won't be a problem for me to be with him." Then a less optimistic part of him felt defeat, because, even Prince being a girl, she had rejected him every time. And finally the overwhelming logical part of his brain told him she must hate him, because she thought he only liked her when she was a guy. Of course he wasn't telling Lan all of that. Gui decided for an abridgment of his most recent feelings.

"I felt like I had to know you better, because all this time I had been seeing you under the wrong lights."

Silence while Lan reflected over his words. Then it was his time to ask.

"And you? How did you fell when you discovered I was not gay?"

At first and briefly, happy, she thought. But no way she was telling this to Gui. Then mad. But her rage he had seen. So what was left? She felt as if she was just echoing his words when she said.

"I felt like you weren't the person I thought I knew."

"So..." Gui said after a while. "Let's get to know each other, this time."

Lan nodded. They relaxed a bit and started eating the meal they had ordered. The food was almost cold.

"Profes... Gui. Can I ask you something personal?", the girl asked after swallowing her food thoughtfully.

The request made him nervous, but wasn't him who had just said they should get to know each other? He gestured her to proceed.

"Why are you a masochist?"

"Pft..." Gui choked with the tea he had just sipped. "I'm not a masochist!"

Lan even dropped her chopsticks in shock.

"You're not? But you always look so happy when I hit you in game!"

"That... that's because I thought it would make you happy! Aren't you a sadist?"

"No!". Well, since the assassins who'd been targeting Prince didn't count, she thought she wasn't.

They looked at each other in profound disbelief for a few seconds, and then just started to laugh idiotically, first just giggling, and in the end roaring with laughter.

And when they finally regained control, they started clearing out another few... misunderstandings.

-o-O-o-

_Meanwhile, in Second Life_

ICIA was more motivated than ever since Ice Phoenix had joined them. And Phoenix actually liked her new job, because she didn't have to be confined to the office and Ling was a boss much less scary than Yulian.

"So, Phoenix, we're about to start Moon City's branch of ICIA..." Ling was saying. "And I was thinking you'd be just the right person to command things over there. How about it?"

"Actually I... I don't want to leave Infinite City." She said. Ling nodded. She was expecting this.

"Because of Prince, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, are you sure? You know, now we've finished the census, the work of the agents will get sort of boring. If Star City had offered some resistance, we'd have plenty of things to do, but in times of peace I guess the only work that still holds some fun is ordering people around. And you'd do just that if you went to Moon City as branch chief."

Phoenix refused the offer, then Ling sighed.

"Then your first boring, minor task will be helping me finding a qualified replacement to go to Moon City in your place." She took some sheets of paper there were just too suspiciously at hand. "Here's the list of the agents I found more suitable for the post. Check on then and give me your opinion. Don't need to write the report, just come to talk to me when you're done."

For some reason, Phoenix just expected to hear the system notice saying "Your quest log has been updated".

She took the names and left to fulfill her mission.

-o-O-o-

Phoenix read the names again. Her task had nothing of "minor and unimportant". Even though the agents identities weren't being concealed from the other agents, they weren't spread, either. So, after Ling and Prince, she was now the person with the greatest knowledge about ICIA and it's agents. She wished to know one more thing, tough. What were the criteria Ling used for choosing these people? They seemed to be completely random... Unless... Phoenix frowned. Checking the list again, she started counting. There were a few players she'd never met, but regarding those she knew, there was no doubt. Male, 20 to 26, handsome.

Suddenly Phoenix had doubts about the nature of her quest.

-o-O-o-

_Real Life_

The lecture was about to start, and Gui was just waiting the last few students to enter so he could close the door. Among the late students were Jing and Yun and... Feng Lan. Of course, he reminded himself, that was to be expected, since they were friends. But he couldn't help to notice her, because before it as as if she was hiding herself and he'd never taken notice of her.

"Good morning, Professor." Jing and Yun complimented. Lan said nothing, but she met Gui's gaze. He found that reassuring, for she usually looked away from him.

But the real surprise came during the class, when he was right in the middle of an explanation. With his peripheral vision he saw a hand rise, then he heard the voice he was only beginning to get used to say.

"Professor, can you please repeat this last part?"

It was Lan's only participation in that class, but suddenly Gui felt much more self-conscious while teaching. Two days after, she answered a question, and by Friday she was making commentaries on the subject. And her commentaries were very pertinent, Gui thought.

For the next two weeks, Lan's performance in class continued to improve, and the teacher realized he'd been thinking about her too often. Her angry rebukes for Feng Yang Ming, her brow frowning in concentration, the faces she made when she was told her answer was wrong... She was Prince, but at the same time she was not. He was starting to loathe his job as a teacher, and he'd gladly exchange half his IQ for being able to sit next to her and listen to the jokes she was laughing at, borrow her notes and be with her not just in his class, but in all classes.

And then, startled, he recognized what he was feeling. Hadn't it started exactly the same way with Prince? Hadn't it started just as a curiosity to see what he would do next and he would react in many situations? Hadn't that same curiosity changed into a desire to be close to him and make him happy? Ling was right, Gui realized. Love was a living thing, and it was being born within him.

-o-O-o-

_Second Life_

In game, very few people realized the change in the relationship between Gui and Prince. Out of habit, and maybe to keep the appearances, the duo continued with the hug-and-punch act, but Gui no more ended as a bloody mass on the floor. In fact, Prince didn't even bothered punching Gui anymore. Instead, he'd discovered a new ability "Devil Pinch of the Seven Hells", and after using it to make the bard jump with the pain, the two of them got along pretty well.

That night, bard and elf met again under the arches in the castle yard. This time, at least, none of the looked sad or distressed.

"I saw your note in my locker." Prince said. "Again".

This time, the note said:

_Xiao Lan,_

_I would like to take you to dinner and maybe do something fun afterwards._

_Answer me in game, and we can see to the details._

_Always yours,_

_Gui._

"So?", he asked, looking forward to the answer.

"I don't get it." Prince said, with his most ingenuous dumb-folded expression. "You did nothing wrong. What do you want to apologize for this time?"

Gui smiled at the elf adorable face. Actually, he was closer to beaming.

"I'm not apologizing." He said slowly. "I'm asking you on a date."

-o-O-o-

The elf started to blush from the tip of his pointy ears.

"You.. you can't... you..."

"I?"

"You're a teacher. Teachers shouldn't date their students."

"This rule applies only for dating students _regularly_. And this year is almost ending, and next year you don't have any classes with me, so I won't be _exactly_ your teacher. And besides..." Gui's speech became a little more flustered. "I'm only 26! How can they expect me to abide by the same rules as teachers who are twice my age?"

Prince reflected for a while. Gui's reasoning made sense. And he looked so cute when he was obstinate, even younger than his twenty six years.

"Right... But don't let it cause us trouble, okay?"

"That means you'll go out with me?", Gui insisted stubbornly.

"Yes, I'll go out with you."

"YAY!", and with this cry of sheer happiness, the bard logged off.

-o-O-o-

_Real Life_

Zhuo Lin Bin finally felt ready. It was time to ask Xiao Lan out on a date. He stopped by the flower shop and bought a bouquet of sunflowers. A reminding of that... previous date... when Xiao Lan asked so innocently if he liked her, and he felt his love confession was being wrested from him by a major force. He hated that moment the most, because he felt really awkward knowing that Xiao Lan knew about his feelings.

This time tough, he would be the one choosing where and how he would say things. He even had an accomplice who was willing to help! Feng Yang Ming helped him into Lan's room, where he left the bouquet. Then he left. He planned to "drop by casually" after Lan had come back from Jing's house and found the flowers.

And so, he waited. He waited in a park nearby for Yang Ming to call on his cellphone, so he'd know when to appear.

His wait was brief. Lan had called just after he's left the house, informing she was on her way back.

-o-O-o-

Lan entered her room to find a bouquet of sunflowers nested in her pillow. Her first thought was Gui, but she rejected it immediately. He didn't knew were her house was, and even if he did, he wouldn't just appear there to leave flowers. Also, sunflowers... not Gui, definitely. Sunflowers made her think about someone else. Someone close to her. Someone so close to her that she knew that as soon as she discovered she would feel really dumb for taking so much time to think of that person.

She examined the flowers closely, caressing the petals and smelling the perfume. Who was the person that made her think about sunflowers?

Just when she put the bouquet down again and was about to leave her room, the doorbell rang. And then she discovered, and felt really dumb for taking so much time to think of that person. She knew who had sent the flowers, and she knew who was at the door. When Yang Ming opened the door, there he was, just as she had imagined.

Zhuo-gege.

-o-O-o-

"Are you free Saturday night?"

Until a few minutes ago, all three of them were chatting happily, then Yang Ming left the room saying he was bringing snacks for everyone, and Lan was alone with Lin Bin. Then he slowed down the pace, brought the conversation for more personal subjects, hinted he was willing to spend more time with her... and asked about Saturday.

Lan looked at him with suffering eyes.

"I... am not."

Given the way she was biting her lip, he knew she was telling the truth and was indeed very sorry for not being free. He proposed they could go out on Sunday, or the next week, but she still looked troubled. Suddenly he feared she just didn't want to go out with him. He must have shown his fear in his face, because Lan said quite abruptly.

"It's not you, it's... It's just that... a person... asked me on a date, and I accepted. And I don't feel... comfortable dating one person one day, then another right after."

Even tough he didn't have any _logical_ reason to suspect that, Lin Bin knew that "a person" was Professor Ming Gui Wen, and in the back of his mind the bard was singing:

_And I will take her out tonight,  
>And I will treat her kind.<em>

_(…)_

_You're gonna loooose that girl..._

The part that hurt even more, he realized, was that if he had just asked her sooner, it would be Gui receiving a "No" right now.

-o-O-o-

Saturday finally arrived.

The sky was still bright, but the sun would set in a few hours. Lan looked worriedly at the hours in her wristwatch. She was almost fifteen minutes late. Then she hurried towards the entrance of the cafe where she and Gui had arranged to meet, and almost collided with Gui himself.

"Fen... Xiao Lan. You're really punctual."

Lan looked at her watch and thanked God, Buddha and Allah for having advanced it fifteen minutes.

The cafe had two environments, one indoors and one alfresco. They chose a table in the late of those. After they took their orders, they started discussing what they were going to do next. Lan suggested wathcing a movie, and Gui produced a brochure with the schedule of the movies. Clearly, he'd been thinking of the same thing.

"Then, how was your week?" Gui asked.

"Normal... I guess." She didn't quite understand his question.

"I'm just curious. I wanted to hear about life in the university from a student's perspective."

She laughed.

"Okay, then... Monday Professor Qi announced we will have a test on Classical Literature next week. We had a work on pairs on Modern Literature to hand down Wednesday, but my brother's pair had a fight with his girlfriend and did nothing, so my brother pestered me until I agreed helping him, but it was troublesome because Professor Ming," she glanced at him "from History of Literature, gave us lots of homework, and I spent all morning finishing it."

"You must have hated it."

"It wasn't that bad." Lan said, distractedly. "I mean, it sucks doing homework Saturday morning, but since it was History of Literature it was fine."

"So you like History of Literature?" Gui sounded very surprised.

"I like. Why did you think I didn't?"

"It's just that you started paying attention to my classes only recently, I mean, before you were always so absent-minded and looked to everywhere but the board."

Lan blushed slightly. Just the decorous blush of a student who had been caught in misbehavior.

"I was just trying to get unnoticed by you. I was afraid you could realize who I was, but since now you know, there's no point in hiding anymore."

"Well, I'm happy you like History of Literature. It's my favorite subject."

"Is it you favorite subject because you teach it?"

"Exactly the opposite. I teach it because it's my favorite subject."

They started talking about literature and books, and they were having so much fun. About many things they completely agreed, and then, suddenly, they found a topic of discordance and started discussing it. Like... they liked the same book, but for completely different reasons! At this point, Gui realized he hadn't have this much fun in real life for a long time. Lan was still talking. Her skin seemed so smooth under the orange light of the setting sun. Her moving lips looked so soft...

"Gui, what's the matter?" Lan asked, realizing the way he'd been looking at her and approaching. "Gui?"

Their eyes met, and slowly they crossed the small distance that was left between them.

The sun had just disappeared in the horizon when they kissed.

-o-O-o-

Since kissing is good, and people just don't keep track of the good things, they didn't knew how much time passed before Lan abruptly disengaged from Gui's embrace.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"You didn't like it?" he was frightened by the possibility.

"No... I mean, I liked it... I mean..."

She gave an angry sigh. She couldn't even begin to voice her objections. Even tough Gui had said the rule only applied for dating students regularly, he was _still_ a teacher. And she wasn't sure if he could separate her from Prince properly. And Zhuo-gege had asked her on a date too, and she wasn't sure if she liked any of them _that_ way. And it was only their first date and... Well, at least that was a understandable excuse.

"It's too soon." She said.

"I'm sorry. I won't do that again unless you want me to."

Lan nodded. These terms were fine.

"Do you... do you still want to see that movie?" Gui asked. Seeing her nod, he got up. "Then we got to hurry, or we're going to loose the last session."

During the movie, Lan noticed Gui kept his hands folded in his lap. As in opposition to "holding her hand" or "putting an arm on her shoulders". After a little thought, she rested her head on his shoulder. He started to make a move, as if to embrace her, but in the end he kept his hand folded in his lap.

Lan sighed. Maybe these terms weren't _that_ fine.

-o-O-o-

_A while ago_

It was Saturday, and it was dusk, which happened to be Ling's favorite time. She loved the way the world got all orange when the sun was setting.

Second Life was getting into her nerves already. She had always liked MMORPG, but she wasn't a regular player by nature. If she didn't have a responsibility on-line, she would log on only every now and then. So, since it was Saturday, she was taking part of the night off. There was a karaoke nearby that she just loved. She loved singing, when she was happy or when she was desperately in need of happiness. Even tough she was shy, the stage on that karaoke had the power of making her forget about people and about her problems, and when the lights were over her the world was just she and the microphone she used to shout all her feelings. At least that was one thing she and Prince had in common, she reflected. They both put their hearts into the music, so you could almost hear their souls singing behind their voices. The only difference was that Prince's voice was good.

While she walked down the street, she observed the urban scenery. Her eyes stopped upon a cafe where she had never been, but that seemed really nice. There, a couple caught her eye. A pretty girl with a pony-tail and... Ling looked again to be sure. That was Gui!

Suddenly she wasn't happy anymore. She felt envy stinging painfully.

But that was nothing compared to what she felt when Gui inclined towards the pony-tail girl and they kissed. She felt so bad that the feeling inside her seemed like a solid thing, and she wanted to puke so that thing wouldn't be inside her anymore. Unfortunately, one can't just puke bad feelings out. So Ling ran.

She ran to the karaoke and asked immediately for a song. "I love to hate you", from Erasure. She wasn't sure if the lyrics applied. She didn't care. She liked that song, and the only thing she needed were troubled lyrics that she could use to shout her feelings out.

She didn't cry. In fact, she was very composed when she took the stage. And then she sang. She poured all her feelings into it, specially in the chorus:

_And the lovers that you've sent for me_

_Didn't come with any satisfaction guarantee_

_So I return them to the sender_

_And the note attached will read_

_How I love to hate you,_

_I love to hate you_

_I love to hate you_

_I LOVE TO HATE YOU!_

But her voice cracked in the last long note. The music was fading, but the heavy feeling inside her chest was not. She left the stage looking so helpless that some people were unsure whether they should applaud. Ling sat alone on her table, trying to hold back the tears. She wasn't the crying tipe. Or at least she didn't want to be. Especially in public. Then the person after her started singing "It's my life".

That was when she started sobbing uncontrollably.

-o-O-o-

**My own review on this chapter:**

**Liked** – The part when Lan asks Gui if he's a masochist. I don't know if I conveyed the feeling, but in my head this part was just too much fun.

**Disliked** – The part when Ling gives Phoenix a mission. It didn't feel right to put that part there, but I had to because it will important for... oops, almost spoiled here.

Also, even if I didn't write everything I intended too, the chapter ended very long and I think these black letters against white screen will turn into a big headache, sorry.

And for me, Wicked does deserve a happy ending, but he can't pair up with Ling because they're not each other tipe.


	8. Chapter Six

**Hello, everyone, I'm sorry for the delay. The primary reason for this delay is my job as a teacher, and the secondary reason is that I'm trying to publish a book – yes, my own original work. Coming soon, "As Aventuras de Mackenzie Mac'Enzie" **_(The Adventures of Mackenzie Mac'Enzie)!_

**About the Chinese names of the new characters, two are real Chinese names, the others just sounded right. Anyway, in future chapters I'll probably use only their game names.**

**Sorry again for the delay, please review!**

**-/-|-\-**

**Chapter 6** – Only once in a lifetime, if so.

_In which we're introduced to a nice crew. In which Doll makes an invitation. In which Wolf asks advice._

_-/-|-_\-

Surprisingly enough, "It's my life" stopped mid-track, then Ling felt someone sitting besides her.

"Now, miss, I know my singing isn't as good as yours, but you don't need to cry for that."

Ling said nothing. She was almost sure the boy had said her singing was good.

"You know, you were supposed to say it was not my singing that made you cry. Otherwise I'll start thinking it was."

She managed to smile.

"It wasn't your singing."

"Ah, I feel relieved. Now you tell me what the matter truly is."

"Nah, it's nothing...", after the first wave of despair had passed, Ling was unwilling to keep talking to a stranger. You never know when the nice guy in from the other table is pervert-stalker-pshychopath-serial-killer-and-things-worse.

"Don't even start saying it's nothing. We realized there was something wrong when you entered the karaoke, and when you sang you couldn't fool us anymore."

"Us...?" Ling lifted her head to look at him for the first time. She saw a fine young men about her age, greenish-brown eyes, and tied long brown hair.

"Us." He agreed. "Meaning, me, my girlfriend, her friend and her friend's cousin, all of them being in our table right there."

Ling looked where he was pointing and the three girls waved happily to her. Why did he have to have a girlfriend? She mentally sighed. Her father had a theory about love. He used to say the best way to forget an unrequired love was to find another love. The only trouble was that none of the suitable candidates were free when Ling met them.

"So? Aren't you telling what's the matter?"

"Unrequired love."

"I see. Then it's better for me to call the experts." He gestured for the girls in his table and they came to join him in Ling's table. "This is my girlfriend, Mei Yin, and this is Weiwei, and her cousin Li Xiang. And... I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Yi Ping."

"I'm Ling."

"So, Ling, why don't you tell us the 'tragic story of your life'?" Mei asked.

Ling shook her head in amusement. Those people didn't existed. She might as well take the opportunity to talk her heart to complete strangers.

"Well, there was that guy, who used to be my best friend..."

Weiwei interupted.

"Should we pay you a drink first?"

"I don't drink." Link said.

"Oh, you don't have to drink" Yi Ping said "You can do just like my uncle. He used to order a bottle of whiskey without never opening it and just stare at the bottom of his cup."

"Isn't that the uncle your mother said was always drunk?" Mei Yin asked.

"Yeps. But he haven't tasted a single drop of alcohol in ten years."

They ordered a beer and had Ling staring at the bottom of her cup. Then she resumed telling her tale, felling just a bit embarrassed. Yi Ping and his crew never interrupted her, so she caught herself talking about herself more than she had done in her whole life, she even voiced the metaphors that she'd created to describe her feelings to herself. It made her feel guilty, she should look so selfish right now... but no one showed discontent or annoyance. Such good listeners...

Then she reached the part about Prince. Ling really felt tempted to reveal that the famous Blood Elf was actually a girl, but she knew better than that. After all, she _was _head of a secret organization which purpose was supporting Prince.

"... then my friend met this guy on the Internet, and they begun chatting, and my friend fell in love with this guy." She paused, searching for safe words.

For the first time, one of the girls interrupted.

"But you never told your friend liked guys." Li Xiang said.

"Because he didn't. At least, not until he met this fellow on the Internet. So, you see, I come back from abroad, having lost my job, wondering if my best friend still considers me as a friend at all and if I could one day be something more than his friend, only to find him freaking over a _guy_ he met on the _Internet_. But I believe this is _wrong_, and I was sad and also jealous and I _couldn't_ support him, but a the same time I felt guilty and I _wanted_ to, and I..." lots of sentimental talk "...but in the end, I discovered that guy was a girl. And I told my friend, because at least _this_ he had to know. Of course he didn't believe me, but he ended up asking the Internet guy and discovered the truth. And I don't know where or when or how, but they contacted each other in real life and I was just in my way here when I saw them kissing." Ling finished in one breath, starting to feel her eyes watering again.

There was nothing to say, so Mei Yin and Weiwei just patted Ling on the shoulders. After a feel deep breaths, she regained her calm and added groomly.

"But of course it's my own fault."

"No!". All three girls exclaimed. Weiwei seemed about to elaborate, Yi Ping cut her.

"Now is that time when, in order to rise the spirits of a maiden in distress, all her girl friends start badmouthing her boyfriend? Then I'll excuse myself, ladies. I'll be in that counter, and I am taking this..." he grabbed the until then untouched beer bottle, but let it go after seeing Mei Yin piercing eyes. "Or maybe I'm not. Anyway, call me when you're done talking ill about this guy you don't even know."

With that, Mei Yin and Weiwei turned their attention to Ling, and Li Xiang dismissed the boy giving him a thumbs up without barely looking at him.

-/-|-\-

"So, Ling, do you play Second Life?"

After Mei Yin, Weiwei and Li Xiang explained Ling how everything was Gui's fault and how the girl he was seeing now had been in the wrong, and that Ling herself was blameless (part of what they said Ling had already told herself countless times, but hearing someone else saying this felt reassuring) Yi Ping was allowed to return to the table, and the conversation followed through lighter subjects.

Ling smiled at his question. Not too long ago she could have answered that with a indignant "Of course not!", but know she only gave a crooked smile and shrugged.

"Who doesn't?"

"Actually, not too long ago, I didn't." He answered. "I had the character of my dreams in The World, I was almost level 300! I was very reluctant to leave The World."

This time Ling laughed.

"My hero..." she managed to say between her laughter.

"What? What's so funny?" Yi Ping and the girls looked dumb-folded.

"I used to work for The World as a programmer. But we were loosing so many players that the higher ups were afraid the game would just shut down, and I was kicked because they were cutting personnel."

"Wow, you worked for The World? So cool!" Weiwei exclaimed.

"My bad, for quitting the game, I mean. Now I feel like it's _my_ fault you loosing your job."

"Nah, I usually blame Prince for that. If it weren't for him people would never have realized how fun Second Life could actually be."

"But Wei Jun would be delighted to hear you were a programmer from The World." Li Xiang said thoughtfully.

"Who's Wei Jun?" Ling asked. Her sadness must had been almost completely healed (for that night), because her natural curiosity about life, the universe and everything had returned.

"He's our missing friend, because usually we're a crew of five. Guess he caught a cold." Mei Yin explained.

"And you'd love him, because when I quit The World he spent two weeks calling me a traitor. He was past level 350."

"What was his class?"

"Warrior."

"So..." Ling reached for the depths of her memory, where she kept useless information such as names and dates. "Above level 350, warrior, one of the last to abandon the ship... could he be... Dragonspawn The Red? Beast-man of the lizard race?"

"That's right! Wow, that means he's famous!"

_Not quite. _Ling thought. It was just that, after Second Life came up with Prince, The World really considered having its own poster boy. The candidates were the highest level players... that were still logging regularly. But saying this Wei Jun was just one of the twenty two people that met this description didn't seem nice, so she kept the thought to herself.

"Well, but I was saying," Yi Ping resumed his previous trail of thought. "do you want to play Second Life with us? Since we're five, there's still a vacant place in the team. What's your vocation?"

"Wanderer." Ling said with a faintly smug smile. She was hoping they would look surprised and dumb-folded, and she wasn't disappointed. After explaining her job, her new friends looked impressed.

"Well, a class specialized in quests may be just what we need. We plan on exploring the hills northeast Infinite City, and I heard there are ruins there."

Ling frowned.

"There are no hills northeast Infinite City." She said slowly. "I know because I made the journey between Infinite City and Moon City a hundred times, and there were never any hills there."

The friends exchanged looks.

"But we've seen them." Weiwei protested.

Ling seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"Unless..." then she opened a wide smile and clapped her hands in joy. "Hill-golems!"

Now she _had_ to go on a hunt with them. Luckily, Yulian didn't even know about ICIA, so the only person that would be mad about her skipping her on-line job would be Madam White Bird. But White Bird wasn't half as scary as Yulian-dasao, so... she would just put "Agent #1" in charge the whole week to see how he'd do being in command, and warn Phoenix to warn the other agents, so they would _know_ Agent #1 was in charge.

Yeah, that was it. Ling was going to hunt hill-golems.

-/-|-\-

"Well, then PM us when you log in Second Life. I'm Vampire Garlic."

If Ling had been drinking when Yi Ping said that, she would have choked on her beverage. _At least he's creative. _And_ he's got an humor sense._

"I'm Spring Nymph" said Mei Yin.

"Lovely Wei", that was Weiwei.

"Joydrop", Li Xiang.

"Ling Niu". Ling said briefly. She wished she had known these people before. They seemed great potential agents... Forget about it, she told herself. If she were to tangle everyone she knew into Infinite City's "web of conspiracy", where would she ran to when she needed peace?

After that they left, hurrying to their own homes, so they could spent the rest of the night in the hunt.

-/-|-\-

_Second Life_

Hill-golems were so big that when they laid still one could easily mistake them for hills. Those earth and stone giants were covered by plants and inhabited by wild animals, making the "hills" an adorable hunting site for players. Mountain lions, flaming serpents, flying serpents, phoenixes, basilisks, cockatrices, mountain lizards and so on. And the players would be happily killing those beasts, when a spell or weapon strike would miss the target and hit an earth spot were no grass grew – for no apparent reason. Then the golem would awake, and throw the players to the ground and stomp them to death. To avoid getting killed in such a glamourless manner, one had to cling desperately to anything in hand and climb the golem and attack its weak spots.

Just like playing _Shadow of the Colossus._ With 99% realism, and none of those convenient buildings so tall you could climb them and jump in the colossus from above without having to climb a bucking giant.

"Such a shame Devious Flame didn't join us for today's hunt..." Vampire Garlic commented. Devious Flame was Wei Jun's in name game.

"You know you're just regretting the absence of our usual meat shield." Joydrop replied.

They were defining their fighting strategy. Basically, Ling would replace Flame as the meat shield.

"I'm sorry for that. But you'll have my skeletons to support you." Vampire Garlic was a necromancer. Ling had found that funny. She was already so used to Doll that she found actually weird to see a necromancer who didn't talk about love and justice, didn't like pink, and didn't quote Sailor Moon.

Spring Nymph was a priestess, Wei a mage and Joydrop an archer. Devious Flame was the only warrior in the team. Once they agreed upon the strategy, they climbed the first golem to start by killing all mobs that lived over it.

-/-|-\-

In Infinite City, Wicked was troubled. He was forced to admit that Ling was right and he should have acted sooner. And now he was going to look for her advice. So he was trying his best to remember which of the infinite doors in Infinite Castle was the door to ICIA's office. When the corridors start feeling familiar, he saw a door identified as FILE STORAGE ROOM and entered.

"Ling, you have to help... me...? Ming Huang?"

Wicked stood, facing the girlish face that was his brother's. What would Ming Huang be doing in ICIA's office?

"What do you want?", Ming Huang asked in that always irritated tone of his.

"Where is Ling?"

Ming Huang looked around. "Not here", he scowled.

Wicked considered resuming his search, but curiosity won.

"Ming Huang, what are you doing here?"

"Organizing files for storage." As if to reinforce his point, lowered his eyes and resumed scribbling the documents over the desk.

"But... isn't this Ling's office?"

"Yes."

"But then what are you..."

"She put me in charge, alright?" Ming Huang blurted. "You got a problem with that?"

"But isn't this room ICIA's..." Wicked stopped. He had almost revealed a state secret to his bad-tempered younger brother. "So you saw Ling today?"

"No. She PM-ed me, saying she was putting me in charge, and said she was PM-ing Phoenix to reinforce." The boy had a queer expression, one that Wicked didn't recall ever seeing before. He raised his mage staff slowly. "And now, you tell me how you know about ICIA or I'll have my agents ambushing you in the rebirth point to send you back to level one."

-/-|-\-

"Prince-gege, Doll needs to talk to you." The little girl started pulling Prince's hand and was dragging him along through Infinite Castle.

"Can't we talk here, Doll?" he complained. How was he supposed to play the dignified overlord if everyone, from Yulian to White Bird to Doll to Lolidragon felt free to grab him and drag him to wherever they please?

"Uh-uh. Doll wants to make a big announcement to all members of Odd Squad."

Wondering what kind of announcement Doll would be willing to make, Prince allowed her to keep dragging him.

Finally she pushed a heavy wooden door (Prince wondered why they needed heavy wooden doors. Why did they have to spend so much money in wood to build doors to empty rooms? Couldn't they use that money for something else?) and they entered a small room that – except for the chair were sat the other members of Odd Squad – was bare of decorations and furniture.

"Oh, finally!" Lolidragon exclaimed. "Where did you find him?"

"Near the archer's training ground."

"You see? Didn't I tell you it was no use looking for him in the place he was headed to? He was bound to stray completely from the path and end somewhere else."

But before Lolidragon could proceed with criticizing Prince's lack of sense of direction, Doll cleared her throat. It was time for her to make her announcement.

"Two weeks for today is my birthday, and I'll be turning fifteen." She blurted out. "And my mother is throwing a big party and I asked her if I could call my friends and she said I could, so I want everyone from Odd Squad to be at my debut." In the end she was breathless, but one could see in her eyes that there was more into that invitation.

"You mean for us too meet at real life?" Lolidragon mused. "That's great! I keep saying it's past the time we meet for real."

But all the other seemed uneasy, shooting sideways glances to each other.

"Pleeeeeaaase." Doll made the Cute Face. Even Odd Squad members found it hard to resist the Cute Face. She elaborated. "My mother invited lots of people and I don't know most of them. I just wanted to spend my birthday with my friends."

Prince frowned. Why would Doll's mother invite people her daughter didn't know to her daughter own birthday? It was a little weird, to say the least. Of course there's always those relatives one doesn't know until you meet them in a wedding, anniversary or funeral, but to say you don't know most of the people that were invited to your own party? Unless... Prince recalled faintly something Doll had told him a long time ago. Okay, maybe not a long time, but it was something he had just shoved aside to some corner of his mind, so he couldn't remember it well. Then he remembered. Doll was...

"...a real life princess." Doll finished speaking. Apparently, while Prince struggled with his memory, some other member of Odd Squad had asked Doll a few questions.

Everyone was silent. Most of them astonished.

"Oh, yeah. That was it." Prince exclaimed.

"You knew about it?" Almost every member of Odd Squad cried in unison.

"Well... hum... I...", and so the elf was forced to explain.

-/-|-\-

And when Prince finished telling about that time when he'd run away from home with Doll, and everyone thought they were done with the surprises, Yulian said.

"Actually... I also knew Doll was a princess. Her mother the queen had me keeping an eye on her in Second Life."

"Yulian..." Wolf seemed shaken.

And then the mage was forced to explain.

-/-|-\-

And when Yulian was done with her explanation and Wolf was soothed on his suspicions, everyone started eying each other, as if asking "Does someone else have a secret to share?". Since no one else volunteered a shocking truth, Doll blinked and made the Cute Face again.

"So... will you guys come to my party?"

"I will." Lolidragon said.

"Well..." Yulian hesitated just a little before smiling (not the scary smile, the warm one). "I suppose I will."

"Then me too." Wolf.

"And I". Gui and Prince said almost at the same time.

"Then give me your names and addresses so I can send the invitations." Doll produced a pencil and notebook.

Without any reservation they started writing their information down in the note, but Gui noticed Prince was somewhat hesitant.

"Hum... Doll..." the elf started saying, as Yulian passed him the notebook. "There is one thing about me I guess you should know beforehand. I don't think... well, I don't think you'll be able to recognize me in real life."

"There's no problem. You just have to show your invitation when the limo comes to get you."

All members of Odd Squad turned their heads to Doll. When the limo comes to get you? Then, one by one, they realized that that should be sort of expected, since they were the princess' own guests. Prince resumed looking concerned.

"But I..."

"We could go together." Gui said in a hurry, but even so managing to sound kind.

And all members of Odd Squad stared wide-eyed when, instead of hitting the bard, the elf let out a relieved sigh and said.

"That would be great, thank you."

-/-|-\-

_Real Life_

When Feng Lan crossed the door, Gui allowed himself to smile at her, and she returned the smile. After they had cleared things out, it had been much easier to be around her, even though he still had to be discrete.

As he started his lecture, he let his mind free to wander about the recent events in game (What? You were expecting him to actually _pay attention_ to what he was teaching? No way, he was too smart for that.) Doll being a princess had seemed even more unbelievable than Prince being a girl. Even so, only two days after he'd given her his address he'd received a fancy invitation with the royal stamp upon it. It seemed like it wasn't only in game that the members of Odd Squad were impressive. Prince was a girl (he refrained himself from adding – a pretty, smart and funny one), he himself was a genius, Doll was a princess, and Yulian was one of her retainers. It wasn't that much clear what exactly was Yulian's job, but the way she'd talked about it gave Gui the impression she was a half-bodyguard, half-baby sitter, half-secret agent. So were left Lolidragon and Wolf. He couldn't think of hat kind of job a person as wicked and mischievous as Lolidragon could have in real life, but it was bound to be something... unusual. And Wolf was a doctor.

At first, one being a doctor didn't look special at all, but Gui knew differently. Medicine was tough. Before he'd decided upon studying Literature, people would often say "You're so intelligent! You should study Medicine!". But he'd given a look in the books he would have to read if he went to med school, and said no, thanks. Furthermore, Gui considered a human life too great a weight to be put over his shoulders. So, concluding, all members of Odd Squad were special.

After concluding his trail of thought, Gui was startled to see it was time to dismiss his class. While the students left to the corridor, he started organizing his books and papers.

"Gui? What are you still doing here?" a familiar voice asked from the door, and when Gui looked up he found Lee Tian Lang.

"Hi, Wolf. Just packing my stuff." He made a vague gesture towards his messy desk.

Wolf entered the room and grinned.

"Do you really have to make such a mess when you're lecturing?"

"Well..." To avoid having to explain about his desk untidiness, he came up with another subject. "But were you looking for me? It's rare to see you out of the infirmary."

"Actually, I was."

"Right, then what can I do for you?"

At first Wolf said nothing, only helped him with his papers. Then, suddenly asked.

"Did you meet Prince? In real life?"

Wolf regretted his choice of words almost immediately, for he felt Gui closing himself in a shell of introspectiveness.

"I did."

"And how was it?" Then, he hurried to explain. "It's not that I want to be nosy or anything... it's just..." his voice died to a meaningless mumble.

"What?" Gui demanded, curious.

"Well... You see..." Wolf continued havering for five whole minutes, and Gui was getting impatient. The teacher almost missed when the doctor finally said his point. "...I have never met Yulian in real life, and I don't know how I should act..."

Horror struck, Gui realized that Wolf-ge – the great big brother of them all – was actually asking him advice.

"...that's why I wanted to know how was it for you and Prince."

"Hmm... Wolf, you see..." Gui started carefully, "Things between me and Prince are completely different from you and dasao. Because, you see... you two _like_ each other, you even _married_. And just a few weeks ago I would be _spanked_ whenever Prince saw me."

To that Wolf was forced to agree.

"But then, what should I do?"

"Well... What in-game couples usually do when they met in real life?"

When Gui asked, Wolf realized that, in fact, Gui didn't have any way to know about these things, since: 1- Second Life was the first RPG he'd played and 2- Prince was the first person he'd fallen in love with.

"I... don't know, as well."

"Then I guess you'll have to wait and see." Gui said. _And trust Lolidragon and Lan to fetch the both of you to the altar again._


	9. Chapter Six and a Half

_Okay, I confess, I didn't really have any time to write, but I wanted to post the next chapter almost as badly as you wanted to read it, so... Here are the few lines I managed to write. I hope you enjoy it,please review. I'll write the next chapter as soon as I can, but I am not rushing it because I want it to be really good._

**-\-|-/-**

**Chapter Six and a Half** – Interval

_In which nothing happens, but many things are about to happen._

-\-|-/-

Part I - Idleness

The day had finally come. By now, every person that held a position of power in Infinite City already knew that Odd Squad was taking a day off, and some – the ones closest to Odd Squad – even knew they would be meeting in real life.

Since being leader of the secret service counted as holding a position of power, Ling was also aware of the small 'vacations' the liege lord and his comrades were taking. And so... she wasn't logging in Second Life. Why? Well, the sole purpose for her playing Second Life was that she'd be close to Gui. Of course being a spy was fun, but it was a colorless perspective if Gui wasn't around. Let Ming Huang have a taste of power, she decided. Having responsibilities would do some good to the boy.

And so, Saturday morning found Ling lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, and trying not to think that Prince-girl and Gui were probably together (subconsciously she erased from her mind the fact that all other members of Odd Squad would probably be with them), and what they might be doing.

-\-|-/-

Doll's party wouldn't be simply a party. It was also her coronation as princess heir. The coronation would be held hours earlier than the party, and between the two events there would be a cocktail.

To be fit to attend such important ceremonies, one must get a good night of real sleep (as in opposition to sleep filled with the stress of ruling a city in an on-line game), and if one is a girl, one must also spent all morning and part of the afternoon putting an overwhelming effort in hair, make up and dressing.

For that reason, even tough the party would be only at night, Odd Squad wouldn't log for the entire day.

-\-|-/-

As noon approached, Ling struggled with ideas for lunch. She definitively wasn't great thing as a cook. She could cook a little this or that, but usually, when she couldn't afford a restaurant she was more likely to survive on cup noodles. She smiled, remembering that Gui was the same. "We'd make such a helpless couple..." she thought, but then her smile faded. They _wouldn't _make a couple.

Irritated by her trail of thought, Ling got up and went to her noodles.

With hunger appeased, she restarted her routine of ceiling-staring, but was distracted by her neighbor. The man from the apartment next door had just put some high music, and his playlist sounded sort of... depressive.

She tried to ignore, but soon she was accompanying some lyrics.

_We've only said goodbye with words_

_I died a hundred times_

_You go back to her _

_And I..._

"I DON'T EVEN LIKE AMY WINEHOUSE!"

And with this angry shout, Ling sprang from her bed and decided stop being miserable.

Part II – Restlessness

Zhuo Lin Bin was sitting on his bed, to lazy to go to his desk, and pretending to read a voluminous chemistry book, but his gaze would frequently wander through the walls and stop over a spot he'd never figured whether was paint or dirt.

Sometimes he'd look to the computer and the game helmet, but then images of Prince and Gui having fun only the two of them would fill his mind. Fortunately, his mind had some sort of filter that prevented him from imagining Gui and _Xiao_ _Lan_ together, otherwise he could snap right away.

Lin Bin was startled when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Lin Bin? It's Ling."

He was a bit surprised. He never expected Ling to call him, and he didn't remember giving her his phone number.

"I was thinking, Lin Bin. I don't know about you, but if _I_ don't go outside to _do_ something, I'll go crazy wondering where _those two_ might be."

Lin Bin was unwilling to admit he was the same, but Ling didn't need his answer.

"So, since you don't look the karaoke type, what do you think about an arcade?"

He opened his mouth to say "No, thanks, maybe another time", but then he glanced at the chemistry book and the gaming helmet and the spot on the wall. Who was he trying to fool? So, instead, he answered:

"Ok. Where do I meet you?"

-\-|-/-

Feng Lan was fiddling with the hem of her dress. She was so nervous! But, having decided that she was done with hair and make up, and that nothing she could do would actually improve her situation, she was left to fiddle with the only piece of cloth that could scape the attentive looks of Doll's couriers: the hem of her dress.

Hadn't she been so nervous, she could have realized how beautiful she actually was. She was wearing a silky, blue evening dress, not quite daring, but showing some skin on the back. Her hair, without the characteristic ponytail, hung loose and undulated gently to one palm below the shoulders. And hadn't she forced Yang Ming to stay logged in Second Life (under the excuse of taking care of Infinite City for her, but actually to avoid hearing any sarcasm while she was dressing up), even he would have said a word of compliment.

-\-|-/-

Ming Gui Wen was already dressed in his suit... no, tuxedo? He had to admit he didn't have a clue about which was which and which he was wearing. It was formal and it had a necktie, so it should serve. Now he only had to wait for the limousine.

As the words "only wait for the limousine" echoed his mind, he shivered. What had become of him? Mingling with virtual princes and real princesses and courting a student... Gui shook his head. He might as well be going crazy.

For the hundredth time, he glanced at the essay he was trying to grade, but was unable to make sense of a single line of it. Unsure whether it was the student's lack of writing skills or his own incapacity to concentrate, he looked for the name of the student on the top of the page. "Lu Jing" it said. Gui cursed inwardly. If Jing was lacking writing skills, then he was lacking IQ.

Since that was not the case, this time he KNEW he was going crazy.


	10. Chapter Seven

**Attention: In real life they use their real life names, but since I don't know all their names, I'm sticking to the game names.**

**Chapter Seven **– Some Truths

_In which Odd Squad meets. In which Ling and Lin Bin duel._

Finally the limousine stopped by Lan's house, and the motorist was about to get off and open the door for the girl, when the passenger in the back sit shot him a dangerous look and opened the door for her himself.

"Thanks, Gui." She said quietly when he re-entered the vehicle to sit beside her. "For picking me up and entering with me in Doll's party."

"Nah, that's nothing..." he tried to soothe her.

"Yes, it is." Lan gave him one of her determined, Prince like looks. "Since I started playing Second Life, the thing I have feared the most was revealing my identity to my friends. I'm glad you'll be with me."

On the outside, Gui just smiled and said:

"You are welcome."

But in the inside, his heart was throbbing with pain, because this was one of those moments when he saw something, something... _inside_ her, that was just so beautiful, so pure and at the same time so thrilling and exhilarating that he just wanted to kiss her and never let go of her.

In game, if something like this happened, he could just go and try, because she would kick and punch and slash with her Black Dao, in defense of her honor and Prince's image. But in real life... he remembered that time when he didn't resist and kissed her. It wasn't as if she hadn't _liked_ it, but the whole problem was that she hadn't _wanted_ it. Inwardly, he sighed. Then, to keep the conversation going, he said:

"How do you think the others will be? I mean, we already know Wolf, but how do you think Lolidragon and Yulian and Doll will be?"

"Well... I don't know about you, but there's no way I can picture Doll as a princess. At least, no for more than five seconds. After that she should always revert into the pink necromancer of love and justice."

They laughed together.

-\-|-/-

"You came!"

The girl voice that cried happily at the sight of them was familiar, but the appearance of the owner of the voice was, definitely, not familiar.

_That can't be Doll..._ Lee Tian Liang and Lolidragon – who had arrived almost at the same time – thought almost at same time.

"Did you have any doubt we would?" Lolidragon asked, grinning.

The real life Doll was a little taller than her game self. That made perfect sense, Wolf reflected, since in her age she was probably still growing, but her avatar wasn't. Also, in real life she dressed more maturely – or at last for this occasion she had.

Except for the fact that Doll was actually a princess, everything was almost normal, and the conversation flowed easily.

"Wow, so you're a doctor! Wolf-ge is so reliable!" Doll looked at him with admiration. "What about you, Lolidragon?"

The hidden GM of Second Life smiled and lied blatantly. "I'm currently unemployed." She shouldn't have said that, because Wolf and Doll seemed worried. She hurried to ease their concerns. "Well, I still have my savings, but while I don't find a new steady job I'm helping a friend in her shop." Lolidragon hoped they wouldn't persist on the subject, because she was _starting_ to feel bad about lying to them. Just then a safe escape popped in her mind. "Hey, half the team is missing, where are Gui and Prince and dasao?".

At the mention of Yulian, Wolf blushed slightly. Without noticing, Doll turned to him to ask.

"You work at the same place as Gui, don't you?"

"Yes, we both work at XXX University..."

Inwardly Lolidragon sighed. They had bitten the bait.

-\-|-/-

When they got off the car, Lan was a little surprised to find herself in a dress. Talking to Gui was so easy that she felt almost as if they were in Second Life, back to the days before Adventurer's Tourney. She started reminiscing. Things were so much simpler back then! Off course it was fun to rule Infinite City with everyone else, but some part of her missed the unruly feelings of hunting in the wild...

-\-|-/-

"Look! Isn't that Gui? It's so weird seen him with his hair short!" Doll exclaimed, turning Wolf's and Lolidragon's attention to their team mate that had just arrived. "Hey, Gui!" She waved, so he could see them and join the conversation.

-\-|-/-

Hearing Doll's voice, Lan was pulled back to reality. There were her team mates. How would they react upon learning she was a girl? She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. She went in their direction, following Gui steps.

-\-|-/-

"Hey, Gui!" Doll said. "Nice to see you! It's so weird to see you dressed so formal! And I miss your long hair, it was so beautiful!

"Ha ha. Nice to see you too, Doll. Or should I bend the knee and call you 'Your Highness'?"

"Nah, save 'Your Highness' for Prince. Hey... Where is him? Wasn't he coming with you in the limousine..." before even finishing the question, Doll noticed the girl that had approached her group right behind Gui.

The two girls stared blankly at each other for a few moments. Finally, Lan broke the silence.

"Hi, Doll."

"Prince-gege..." the smaller girl said, at least. "You are a transvestite!"

-\-|-/-

Ling and Lin Bin met in front of the arcade.

"So, what do you think?", she asked.

"It's big." Lin Bin didn't sound exactly excited.

"It's not only big, it's huge. Even better, this must be the only place where you can still find games from the era before virtual reality!"

Lin Bin still didn't look impressed, but Ling decided to ignore the fact and simply pulled him to the nearest game machine.

"Lin Bin, are you fond of shooting zombies?"

"Not particularly."

"I never liked FPS, but some friends of mine said it was relaxing." She paused. "Do you have a good aim?"

"I am not so sure."

"Well... Then maybe it won't be very relaxing."

-\-|-/-

Wolf, Doll and Lolidragon watched a girl blush, almost choke with rage and then spit angrily the words:

"I am NOT a transvestite!"

They knew that infuriate outburst. It was Prince, they didn't have any doubt anymore.

"I am a girl, alright?"

Gui was suppressing his laughter, but he managed to regain composure just long enough to vouch her statement.

"It's true. Prince is a girl in real life."

"Wait..." Wolf said suddenly. "I remember you! You once pretended to be sick and went to the infirmary and called me dage. Since that day I've been wondering if you and Prince weren't somehow related."

Lan was surprised. "Wow, Wolf-dage, you have a really good memory."

"Well, Wolf, now you know the truth. Do you thing 'being the same person' counts as 'being related'?" Lolidragon asked.

"Certainly." Wolf grinned. "But, Prince, how did you..."

"Call me Xiao Lan", she interrupted.

"Right... Xiao Lan, how did you get to create a male character? Isn't it against the rules?"

Feng Lan used all her self-control to avoid turning her head towards Lolidragon. Instead she made eye contact with the hidden GM, and that split second was enough for Lolidragon to plead for Lan's silence. Today was a day for revealing the truth to her friends, but some truths weren't exactly hers to reveal.

-\-|-/-

"Okay, I give up." Ling said. "I was not made to shoot zombies."

"Me neither." Lin Bin agreed, after their humiliating defeat.

"Let's play something safer. Something we can win."

Zhuo Lin Bin scanned the arcade, but there weren't any more games for two players, unless... Well, unless they played _against_ each other. To his surprise, Ling liked the suggestion.

"Seems great, what do you want to play?", she asked.

He gestured towards almost prehistorical Street Fighter machines, and Ling made a face.

"You don't like fighting games?", he asked.

"No, that's not... Well, yes. I don't. But that's not the problem. It's just that I suck at pressing buttons."

"Really? But aren't you a programmer? I though that at your job you'd have to press lots of buttons."

"Typing is different from pressing buttons!", Ling protested.

"Right, then... what do _you_ want to play?"

"Hockey."

-\-|-/-

Ling and Lin Bin positioned at opposite sides of the table.

"You go first." Lin Bin offered.

"Right." Ling wasn't the kind to refuse chivalry.

-\-|-/-

"Yay! Five – one to me!" Ling celebrated happily.

"Guess you're good at hockey." Lin Bin smiled at her.

"You can bet I am. When I worked for The World, we had a recreation room and..."

Suddenly Ling's voice dropped and she looked intently at Zhuo Lin Bin.

"You are going easy on me." She said, and she looked mad about it.

-\-|-/-

"Ha ha, Lan-jiejie is so lucky, to be the first player to log and have a wished granted by a GM!" Doll exclaimed happily. Then she tilted her head with a intrigued expression. "But... why did you want to be a boy in first place?".

"Well, you see, it was all my idiotic brother's fault..."

"Do you have a brother?" Doll asked.

"Yes, he's my younger twin and..."

"Does he look like you?"

"More or less, he..."

"Does he look like Prince?"

"A little." Lan said, waiting for an interruption at any time. "Gui even mistook him for me, I mean, for Prince."

Doll turned her head towards Gui so brusquely that her neck almost snapped.

"Really?"

"Well, yes, I..."

"How did you get to know Lan's brother?"

Lan sighed, glad she had redirected Doll's question-machine-gun to Gui.

-\-|-/-

"No, I'm not."

Ling snorted.

"I'll give you that, Zhuo, you're a good liar."

"I'm not lying, I'm not going easy on you."

Rolling her eyes, Ling resumed the game. And, after a pause, asked.

"Is this how you treat her?"

"Her?"

"The Prince-girl. Do you go easy on her too?"

"What..."

"Because that would explain everything. About why Gui is winning her heart, that is." At the same time she said these words, a bell rung, warning player two that player one had just scored a point. "6-1, Lin Bin."

-\-|-/-

"Doll, stop asking questions, okay? Her brother is Feng Wu Qing from Dark Emperor." Lolidragon snapped.

"How do you know?"

It was no good, they reflected. No matter what they said, Doll would still have plenty of questions.

-\-|-/-

"7-5" Lin Bin said, after scoring his latest point.

"I'm glad you're not going easy on my anymore." Ling said. "So, like I was saying... You'll never get into Prince-girl good graces if you go easy on her."

"I don't 'go easy' on her, I just... want to protect her."

Ling snorted.

"From what?"

This forced Zhuo to think for a long time.

"I don't know." He finally said. "I just don't want to see her hurt."

"What if it's you who's hurting her?"

"No! I would never..."

"8-5, Lin Bin. Don't take your mind off the game."

"I would never hurt her."

"I think you already did."

"How?"

"By not sharing her fun."

-\-|-/-

Suddenly Doll exclaimed.

"Oh, I almost forgot, the ceremony is about to begin, I have to go!"

Odd Squad smiled to her. Only Doll would be able to almost forgot her own coronation.

"But isn't it weird that Yulian-dasao isn't here yet?", Lan asked when Doll was gone.

Wolf seemed dejected.

"I'm sure she'll come", Gui said, half answering Lan, half trying to comfort Wolf.

But Lolidragon was relentless.

"Are you going to confess to her, Wolf?"

The doctor blushed deeply.

-\-|-/-

"You know, Lin Bin," Ling explained "not all girls want to be protected. Specially nowadays, girls want to be strong and independent. Of course, even the strongest of people can slip and need some help, and when that happens it's really good to have a knight in shining armor by your side to prevent you from falling."

"But things are entirely different when your knight in shining armor wants to hold you back to keep you safe, as if he didn't believed you could make it. She just wanted to have some fun and try some new things, but she can feel your disapproving look at her back."

"The way you put it", Lin Bin complained, "one could think I am only waiting for her to fall, then catch her and say 'I told you so'."

"Yes." Ling said slowly, and looked right into his eyes. "One could think that."

-\-|-/-

Yulian hurried through the ballroom, trying to spot her companions from Odd Squad. She hoped they wouldn't be annoyed by her delay. At least not much annoyed. Suddenly she spotted two familiar faces and a familiar back. Gui, Lolidragon and Wolf. Of course Doll wasn't with them, since the ceremony was about to begin, but she was a little disappointed that she didn't see Prince. In the end it seemed that he was to shy to show up.

While she thought about this, a girl that was standing next to Gui lifted her face and looked staright at Yulian. The girl's face lit, she raised a hand and waved.

"Come here! We were worried about you, dasao!"

Yulian frowned. Who was this girl? She didn't remembered having ever seen her before. Maybe someone's little sister? After all, only Odd Squad members called her 'dasao'...

-\-|-/-

Understanding her meaning, Zhuo Lin Bin retorted angrily.

"Just be quiet. I don't remember ever asking for your opinion."

"Whatever. But I have just one more thing to say about the matter." She waited. "Lin Bin, I decided to stop being miserable. You should do the same."

"What do you mean?".

"I mean, find a girl that doesn't hurt to love. There's lots of girls out there who like the knight in shinning armor type. Phoenix, for example. She fell after Prince after just one of his disconcerting chivalrous acts. And she is pretty, intelligent, hard-working..."

"Why does it seem like your advertising Phoenix qualities?"

"I sympathize with her. She's only a girl who fell in love with the wrong person. Twice."

"And how come you know Phoenix so well?"

"'That's classified information'", Ling quoted Asahina Mikuro.

"Oh, ICIA, of course...", he mumbled. Then, remembered. "There's one thing I've wanting to ask you for some time now."

_No, I am not going to marry you, Lin Bin._ She joked inside her head. "What?"

"Why Ming Huang? My brother's only a willful brat! Why is he second in command in ICIA?"

Ling laughed.

"This annoys you that much?" She stopped to collect herself. "It's because he wants to play smart."

"Play smart...?"

"It's not that he is a cold and calculating type... but there's some interesting contradictions in things he does. For example, he is bossy, but called his own elder brother to join his team, even tough elder brothers aren't quite the best subordinates and have the terrible habit of spoiling our fun. He is proud, but wanted to ask Odd Squad how they were luring dragons (before, of course, Prince mistook him for a girl...). He is willful, but he didn't opposed the alliance with Odd Squad to win the Adventurer's Tourney. He is impatient and hungry for fame, but resisted the obvious choice of becoming a warrior. Instead he choose a vocation that is never in the front line, has to rely a lot on potions and recite long incantations, and is often called craven."

"When you put things this way..." Lin Bin had never seen his brother through such lights.

"That's why I chose him. He's too young and hot-headed to have mastered the art of playing smart, but for someone that young and that hot-headed to have gone so far... The boy's got potential."

"I see." Zhuo Lin Bin was silent for a long time.

"It's a draw." Ling brought him back to reality.

"What?"

"The game, Lin Bin, the game. It ended. 8-8. It's a draw."

"Oh. I see. It was a good game. Do you wanna play something else?"

Ling thought for a moment.

"No... the whole point of coming here was that we both could forget about Second Life and _those two_, but that's practically all we've talked about. So I give up. I'll go home, log on and play with those nice guys I met outside Infinite City."

Zhuo Lin Bin wasn't in the mood for playing Second Life, but he was sure he could find something to pass the time, so he bid Ling farewell.

-\-|-/-

Hearing Lan's call, Lee Tian Liang turned, only to find the face of the person he loved the most, and that was so alike her Second Life-self.

Yulian stopped in her tracks, and stared at the man who had just turned. It was _him_. Of course, she already knew it was him when she saw his back, but... even without the fur, it was _his_ face, so gentle, so calm, so reliable...

Yulian felt she was falling in love again.

-\-|-/-

Seeing Yulian and Wolf staring passionately at each other, Lolidragon opened her mouth for one of her ruthless remark's, but as one Lan and Gui stopped her, each one taking hold of one of her arms, and their hands covering her mouth.

"Y-Yulian... you are... very beautiful..." Wolf said, at last.

"Oh, shut up and kiss her!" Lan snapped.

Unfortunately, this made Yulian notice her and the other members of Odd Squad.

"Why are you restraining Lolidragon? And... who are you?"

Lan felt genuinely surprised. The other members of Odd squad had got used to her being a girl so fast that she almost expected Yulian to recognize her.

"I'm Prince. My name is Feng Lan. Nice to meet you in real life, dasao."

"Oh." Shocked, Yulian put her arm around Wolf's waist, resting her head in his chest. He automatically put his arm around her shoulders. "Then... are you a tran..."

"No!" Lan uttered, so angry she let go of Lolidragon.

The later was roaring with laughter.

"You should have heard me when I suggested the sex-change operation... everyone always thinks you're a tranny..."

Ignoring Lolidragon, Lan mumbled, "I don't believe I'll have to tell my story _again..._"

"There's no need." Gui assured her. "I already heard it twice, I can explain everything to Yulian if you like."

"Thanks, Gui." For a fraction of second, Gui felt as if she was going to embrace him the same way Yulian had embraced Wolf, but she only smiled and helped herself to an appetizer from some passing waiter's tray.

In his head he sighed. He hoped he could make her love him the same way he loved her. He wouldn't stand if he ended being 'Gui-gege'...

-End Chapter-

-\-|-/-

_**Pff... I'm tired. It required a lot of discipline for me to finish this chapter, and I hope that you've enjoyed it. Please review.**_

_**I changed my mind about the end of this story, so I'll need some time to think about the new end. But don't fear! This term is almost over, and without special relativity and linear algebra, stories are much easier to write!**_


	11. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight - The calm that precedes the storm.**

_In which things look like they'll be okay. In which Ling meets Devious Flame. A prelude to the Great NPC Revolution._

* * *

><p><em>Second Life<em>

"Ling, why don't you just simply join our team?", Joydrop asked, straightforward and annoyed. "You never look very pleased when you go help your 'other friends', and isn't it tiresome to be coming and going between teams for almost a month?"

"Nay." Ling replied lazily, loosing an arrow from the bow she had borrowed from Joy. "It's true my 'other friends', as you call them, don't make me exactly relaxed, but I still like them. Plus, I agreed helping them, so I am taking responsibility."

"This is a game! You don't have to take it that seriously."

Thinking about the soap-opera that always unraveled around Prince, she thought quietly. _You don't have an idea about what's taking a game too seriously..._

"Just quit, Joy." Lovely Wei told her cousin. "It's not our business."

"Right..." Joy mumbled.

"Besides," Spring Nymph added. "it's not the game Ling takes seriously. It's her friends."

Ling felt touched. Nymph was so understanding! More than a big sister, she was like a mother to the other team members. As she was thinking about how lucky Vampire Garlic was for having her, he logged.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, girls. Jun's working overtime and won't log today."

Joy cursed. Ling laughed.

"So it's not today I meet the mythological Devious Flame? I'm starting to think he's just a made up story."

"He thinks the same about you." Wei assured. "He doesn't even believes that the wanderer profession exists. But it's fun you called him mythological..."

Before Ling could ask why, Vamp interrupted.

"But he did do a favor for us, as a sort of apology." He produced a few pages of parchment. "He translated all the engravings we found on the ruins using that relation of runes Ling made."

Vamp eyed each one of the girls carefully to build the suspense.

"The Wizard's Moving Castle Quest, here we go." The girls cheered, but Joy's eyes lingered on him a moment longer. Vampire Garlic snapped. "The wizard is NOT called Howl."

Joydrop looked dejected, but the team started the quest anyway.

* * *

><p><em>Real Life<em>

Ling reunited all her courage to take the phone. _I'm not being miserable anymore, _she told herself for the n-th time. _I _do_ miss my best friend, and I won't let the fact that he can't be more than my friend affect our friendship._

"Gui?"

"Ling!" He sounded happy to hear her. Ling's heart sunk, but she shook her head and took a deep breath.

"Let's do something together. It's been a century since we last had some fun."

Gui was surprised by the offer, but he realized he needed a distraction, and he needed it badly. Feng Lan wasn't even his girlfriend (yet), and he was letting her consume his time twenty-two hours a day. The other two were the hours he spend giving his lectures at the university, but sometimes even these hours he spent thinking of her.

"Yeah." He said. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"So, do you have a plan?" Gui asked when they met at the park.<p>

"What do you mean, if I have a plan?"

"When we were kids you always had one. You always came up with something for us to do."

"Really? And did we always do what I planned? Geez, I was so bossy... how could you ever stand to hang around with me?"

"You WERE bossy?" He laughed.

Ling thought guiltily about ICIA.

"Okay, maybe I AM bossy... but today I don't have a plan."

"Right. Then what do you usually do when you're not working?"

"Or reading." She added.

"Or reading." He conceded.

"Well, I am a nature lover." Gui stared at her in disbelief. "Okay, maybe not exactly a _nature_ lover... but I discovered I like climbing trees very much."

"Climbing trees?"

"Tree tops have a great wireless internet connection." Ling said innocently.

Of course, Gui thought. Because few powers in the universe could keep Ling away from a computer for more than an hour...

And so the two of them spent all morning climbing trees and doing taishi with the old people in the park and throwing stones at the lake and stepping in grass near signs of "Don't step in the grass".

When they were going home, Ling tugged Gui's sleeve.

"Gui..."

"What?"

"Can you buy me a cat?"

"A cat?"

"I always say that girls who worry too much about their cats should get a boyfriend, and if the reciprocal is true, girls who think too much about having a boyfriend should get a cat."

He took a few seconds to process that.

"Are you worrying about having a boyfriend?"

"Well..." Ling shrugged. "Sort of. And I'm unemployed, so I have to much free time... but no money to buy a cat and cat food."

"Ha ha... sure, consider it like my early Christmas present for you... But not today. How about we go to the pet shop next week?"

"Not the next, the next. I have my week fully scheduled with job interviews."

"Right. Look, it's my bus. See ya, Ling."

* * *

><p><em>Second Life<em>

All the great figures of Infinite City were reunited for a reunion.

Many things would be discussed, from Prince's plans for the Central Continent and the security of the capital, to less important matters such as designing blazons of arms to the the main teams in Infinite City and redecorating the castle walls. But the main reason for everyone to assemble was to hear the report from Lolidragon and Feng Wu Qing, now they were back from their trip to the other continents.

"Ling?" Yulian entered the room were the reunion was supposed to happen. "This reunion is for staff members only."

Ling put her most adorable smile, managing a faint copy of Yulian's death-smile.

"I _am_ staff. It's in the second to last topic of this very reunion."

The mage checked the list of topics for the reunion and read aloud. "Top Secret."

Yulian had to be satisfied with that, because not long after someone entered the room dragging along the directionally-challenged Bloody Overlord, signalizing it was time for this official meeting to begin.

* * *

><p>"And now," as tired as everyone in the room, Yulian organized a stack of papers. "Prince has an announcement to do to all of us."<p>

"Huh?" The overlord woke up at once. "Announcement? About what?"

"It says ' Top Secret'". Yulian explained.

"Ah!" Prince sighed. "That." He cleared his voice a few times, as if to get everyone's attention.

"Everybody, I have an announcement to do. A few weeks ago a new division of the military department was created." Heads turned towards Wicked and White Bird, who looked slightly annoyed. "Besides giving training to our soldiers, strategizing is vital in order to win battles. And to come up with a good strategy, information is of uttermost importance."

Everyone was slightly surprised that Prince was actually making a speech before his announcement. It gave whatever he was about to say an air of importance. Ling felt touched.

"Therefore," the elf went on. "I gave Ling here permission to create Infinite City Intelligence Agency, ICIA, for short. Since then, she has been recruiting and raising funds for this organization, all in perfect secrecy. When her net of informers was properly spread, she started relating to me directly, but today it seemed appropriate to let all staff members of Infinite City to be acquainted with the results of Ling's work."

Prince quieted, passing the word to Ling. She waited a few seconds, enjoying the astounded looks she was receiving.

And then she proceeded to a detailed report on what she though it was convenient to let the world know of ICIA's activities.

* * *

><p>"You... You've been half the time away from Infinite City, and yet you managed to plant spies in Infinite, Sun, Moon and Star Cities, find informants, check the background of most everyone who's somehow related to Prince, just to be sure that there aren't traitors among us, raise funds and prevent two rebellions from players that want to take the power from Prince...How did you do that?"<p>

Someone finally asked. Ling smiled.

"I've been away? Yes. I've been indolent? Never. But you don't need to give me that much credit. I hand picked the agents from very capable people, so things would be accomplished with or without me to coordinate them."

When they heard this, everyone who was feeling tired from overwork sighed. If only they had had that idea first...

"But of course, I hope all of you know that no word about ICIA must be spoken outside this room. The efficacy of a secret service has much to do with the 'secret' part." She finalized.

And then it was time for Lolidragon and Wu Qing's report.

* * *

><p>After the meeting with the great figures of Infinite City, Ling called an emergency meeting of the "great figures" of ICIA.<p>

Ice Phoenix, Ming Huang, Jing and a few other people were reunited and looking expectantly to Ling. Their leader looked half worried, half annoyed, and not even close to talking.

"Hmm... Ling?" Phoenix called. The other girl seemed to wake from a daydream.

"Oh, yes. Sorry, where was I? I haven't told you why I called all of you here? Well, then... Folks," her tone was suddenly serious. "External Affairs has just reported that all five overlords are being targeted by assassins of uncommon strength and agility, and the Flower Overlord of Northern Continent has disappeared."

The agents that weren't present at Lolidragon's report gasped. Phoenix and Ming Huang only nodded. Ling proceeded.

"In order to clear things and achieve international cooperation, External Affairs is going to travel _again_ and invite the overlords to a meeting here, in Infinite City." She scanned her audience. "What does it mean?"

One second. Two seconds.

"We have to uncover these assassins' identities." Jing said. Ling agreed, but didn't elaborate.

"It's ICIA's duty to check upon everyone who enters the city." Ming Huang said, suddenly.

Again, Ling agreed.

One second. Two seconds.

"Wait... does it mean... that we have to check upon the overlords and their parties?"

"Precisely." Ling let the notion sink. "We've just entered the big leagues, agents. We have four of the five most influential players of Second Life, who are scattered all around the virtual world. We don't have money for passages, and even if we had, we don't have time for ships. The overlords will be here in two weeks. And we have a throughout investigation to do."

Ming Huang cursed.

"That's impossible." He complained.

"I know. But it's our job to do the impossible. I'm dividing you in five teams. Four teams will dig information on the overlords and their parties. The remaining one will conduct an investigation directly on the assassins. This task has failed multiple times, but maybe the five investigations together will lead to a new conclusion. Do whatever it takes to find useful information."

They understood, and left one by one. Only Phoenix lingered behind.

"And you, Ling? What will you be doing?"

Ling smiled at her. Phoenix was a good agent, but she lacked the confidence that all Ling did had a purpose.

"I'll try to find a ride for the agents. But I can't guarantee anything. And I'll do some external investigation."

"External..."

"Secret service, Phoenix. Emphasis on 'secret'."

* * *

><p>"Ling?"<p>

The wanderer was so lost in her mind, trying to find a loose tread to unravel Second Life's web of conspiracy that she barely listened.

"Ling!" Joydrop called louder. "Are you sure you are okay? You so distracted you've been even missing your attacks."

"Sorry, Joy... I really have a lot on my mind right now."

Nymph patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"Maybe is there something we could do to help?"

Ling shook her head and seemed lost in thought. Then she surprised everyone by asking quite suddenly.

"Does any of you know about a way to travel between the continents that is faster and cheaper than the ships provided by the game?"

Spring Nymph and Joydrop only stared at her, but surprisingly Wei spoke up.

"How about leviathan riding?"

"What?" The three other girls asked.

"Well, some players say that when you try to catch leviathans – you know, sea monsters in general - with a fishing rod, they bite the bait, but pull you for miles and miles before the line breaks and you get lost in the ocean." Seeing that for the other girls she wasn't making any sense, she added. "Theoretically one could be pulled by a leviathan all the way between two continents in no more than a day. Theoretically."

Ling contemplated the idea. It was so crazy it could work. She would suggest it to Phoenix.

The air quivered in front of the girls and Vampire Garlic appeared, logging late as always.

"Hi, love." He said to Nymph. "Hi, Wei. Joy. And... Ling! I didn't expect to see you here tonight."

"Why not? Didn't I say that I'd be coming? I want to see the Moving Castle so badly."

"Yes, but... you never come when... I mean, you've never seen each other..."

"Vamp, you're not making any sense!" Nymph complained.

Vampire Garlic looked at the four girls.

"Devious Flame is logging tonight."

"Oh!" They all exclaimed.

"So he actually exists!" Ling mused.

"Yes, and you're finally going to meet him." Joy and Wei cheered.

As they talked, the air quivered again, and out of nowhere appeared a tall, slender boy with fiery red hair falling straight past his shoulders, and eyes so blue that Ling couldn't help thinking the boy had exaggerated when he created the character. Oh, and he was strikingly handsome, too.

"Hey, folks. What's up with your surprised faces? The way you all look, one would think that I've never logged into Second Life before..." Devious Flame started. Then he noticed Ling. "Are you the notorious wanderer my friends have been telling me about?"

"Yes. I'm Ling. And you were supposed to be Loki."

He tilted his head, the turned and asked Wei and Joy.

"Which one of you told her?"

"Not me." Joy raised her hands defensively.

"I was going to." Wei confessed. "But I never had the chance."

He turned back to Ling.

"How did you know?"

"Well... You look exactly the same as I always pictured the Norse god Loki. Slender, rather than bulky, since he was smart, rather than strong. Blue eyes because he is Norse. And fiery red hair, since in some stories he was also a fire god. And it fits your name. 'Devious' is sort of the stronger character trait in Loki. And – don't get offended – your looks is also deceptive because you seem too scrawny to be a warrior. 'Flame' is for the fire god part."

Devious Flame looked impressed.

"You are quite something, miss wanderer."

Ling smiled her Monalisa smile.

"You ain't seen nothing yet".

* * *

><p>Chapter End<p>

* * *

><p><strong>When I was about to keep on writing, I realized that the second half of Chapter Eight was better suited to be Chapter Nine, then I stopped writing. I hope I'll write the next chapter soon (July is, indeed, the sweetest month of the year...). Meanwhile, please review.<strong>


	12. Chapter Nine

**This chapter contains lots of overlapping with the original story, but that was my intention since the beginning: to make Ling and the events related to her compatible with the Half Prince universe created by Yu Wo – to whom all rights belong.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine – Dramatic moves<strong>

_In which Ling gets a cat. In which the great NPC Revolution starts. In which legal and illegal activities are conducted. Contains some philosophy._

* * *

><p><em>Second Life<em>

Robin Hood was holding the fishing rod for dear life. When that girl in the yellow cloak first talked to him in the archery training ground, he thought she was just impressed with his skills and good looks, and that he would be just a soon forgotten adjuvant that appeared in chapter two of some fanfiction. But the chatter box girl turned out to be the Machiavellian leader of a secret faction inside Infinite City and for some reason he thought the spy life was appealing and got himself recruited.

Robin Hood turned around, analyzing his situation and looking for something – anything – that could be called appealing.

In front of him a giant sea serpent parted its way through the ocean, pulling them towards the Southern Continent at approximately 300 kilometers per hour (186,41 miles per hour, according to my calculator). To his right and left, the ocean roared, and salty water sprayed on his face. Behind him... the archer grinned, finally finding something appealing. Just as he held onto the fishing rod for dear life, the beauty behind him – a fellow agent hand picked by Ice Phoenix to go to the Southern Continent – was holding onto him for dear life.

Never mind she was fighting seasickness. At least she was pretty. He chose to forget that there was a male agent holding her for dear life.

* * *

><p>For Healing Only opened the closest window and relieved his stomach of the remains of his last meal. No one could hold his own when the wizard's moving castle was bucking forward at high speed, and his two companions weren't in better conditions than him.<p>

He regretted the day he became a priest. "Priests are inconspicuous" she had said. "And you are from Rose Team, so you already has free access to Infinite Castle." And he was feeling cast aside, since everything in Infinite City was always about Prince and most of his team was involved with some part of the administration. So he accepted the wanderer's proposal and joined Infinite City Intelligence Agency.

And now he was inside a crazy, walking wizard house, under Ming Huang's – for heavens' sake, Ming Huang's! - orders, heading towards ill famed Northern Continent, whose Flower Overlord had simply disappeared.

* * *

><p>Navy Blue sipped calmly at her tea, thanking all deities she could think of for being in Jing's team, since Jing was friends with Sunshine, so she and her two fellow agents could just hitch a ride in the flying carpet, without having to go through any of Ling's absurd travel methods.<p>

* * *

><p>Right now, the thing Stark feared the most was that Lord Commander Ling discovered he and his team weren't going in person to the Western Continent. He knew Ling would consider it as slacking off, but it couldn't be helped. There weren't any more flying carpets nor walking houses, the sea serpents simply weren't biting the bait, and they couldn't think of any other method to travel between continents on time for the overlords' meeting. So Stark and his fellow agents had contacted all their friends in search of someone who was already placed at the Western Continent, trying to build a network to investigate on Neurotic from afar.<p>

At least they didn't have to start from scratch, since a brief investigation on the Wandering Overlord had already been conducted when he and his wife visited the Central Continent before the Wars of Unification.

Stark prayed Neurotic was a good guy, because if trouble surface from that side Ling was skinning him alive before killing him back to level one.

* * *

><p><em>Real Life<em>

Ling left the building where she had undergone her last job interview trying not to be paranoid. It wasn't a "run to the hills" sort of "we'll contact you", it was a "we'll contact you" sort of "we'll contact you". She repeated inside her mind, but it never worked. She agreed to Lemony Snicket: job interviews where interviews where you had to convince someone that you're good at something, so that person can pay you to do that very thing. And she was good with computers, not in convincing people she was good with computers.

Ling sighed and scanned the street, looking for a distraction. It would be so good if she only had the certainty of being welcomed home by a loving cat... But Gui would accompany her to the pet shop only the next week.

Suddenly, she heard a loud noise. A trash can lid falling? But if that noise startled her, the next one made her jump.

"MEWERR!"

That hideous screech came from a black, ragged cat that came running from the place where the trash can lid had fallen. The animal looked poorly fed, badly beaten, and evil to the core.

Ling smiled like a child for whom Christmas had came earlier.

"Here, kitty, kitty!"

And launched herself in pursuit of the cat.

* * *

><p>A girl with arms and face covered in scratches entered the pet shop, holding tightly to a cat that still tried to scratch her and run. The cat also made the most awful sound the pet shop workers had ever heard. And yet the girl smiled.<p>

"I want to vaccinate him. And registry him. And wash him and buy him a flea collar." Ling said to the first attendant she found. The attendant stared wide eyed at her and the cat, then disappeared to the back of the pet shop. After a while she returned bringing another attendant, a young man who looked her senior.

"How can I help you, miss..." he started, then exclaimed. "Ling?"

Ling stared at him. He was tall, slender, blonde with curly hair, as if he were an angel from a Baroque a fresco, and had those blue, blue eyes...

"Devious Flame?" Ling blushed, remembering how she'd thought his eyes were virtually colored when she met him in Second Life. To think his eyes were the least thing he's altered.

"Yes. What happened to you? These scratches seem deep..." Then he noticed the devil-cat she carried in her arms. "What is it?"

"It's a cat." Ling grinned. "I'll call him Banshee."

Wei Jun – Devious Flame – frowned. Given the noise the cat made, it was an appropriate name.

"But look what he did to you. This thing is a wild beast."

"I don't ca-re." She said the last word in two syllables in a very childish way.

Jun rolled his eyes.

"Okay, but we will cage this devil and treat your scratches first."

She agreed meekly.

* * *

><p>"Ouch. It hurts." Ling complained, as Jun cleansed her wounds.<p>

"And when that cat made these it didn't." He said with sarcasm.

"I was too occupied chasing him to notice. Ouch."

"Well, that was the last one."

"MEWERR!"

They both flinched.

"What are they doing with Banshee?"

Probably gelding him... Wei Jun thought, but said "Rabid shoot, I guess."

"Oh."

They were silent for a few moments.

"Then, you're called... Wei Jun, right?"

"Yeah, and you're... Eng Ling."

"Yes."

"Couldn't you simply buy a cat?"

"Well, actually not. I'm unemployed for almost six months now."

"And you can say that with a smile in your face?"

"Frowning wouldn't get me a new job. And I saved money, so I'm surviving. But my savings are at their end and I can't buy a cat. How about you?"

"I work here part time to pay my university fees."

"What are you studying?"

"Veterinary."

Ling took his measure again, slightly surprised.

"You're a guy who loves animals!"

"Well, yes." He eyed her suspiciously. "Don't you?"

"It's not that I hate animals, nor anything, but... besides my own pet, I can't exactly say that I love animals."

"I suppose you love computers?", he rolled his eyes. "The girls said you're a programmer."

She grinned .

"I used to work for The World. Didn't they tell you?"

Wei Jun almost choked.

"I thought they were kidding." Suddenly he looked at Ling as if she was a goddess came to Earth. "I used to play The World. My game name was..."

"Dragonspawn, the Red. Beastman of the lizard race, warrior, level 368. I know. You were one of the strongest players and one of the last to abandon the ship, so of course we would remember you."

Jun seemed really embarrassed, as if he had just been turned into some sort of celebrity. Ling found his expression hilarious and couldn't help but laugh. She redirected the conversation.

"It's fun, isn't it? How the two of us would spend weeks hanging with the same crew but never get to meet each other, and then we suddenly meet in real life as well as in Second Life."

"Yeah..." Suddenly he seemed distant. "What did Mei Yin, Wei Wei and Li Xiang tell you about me?"

The question took Ling by surprise, but what surprised her more was that Wei Jun looked almost angry. He didn't give her time to answer.

"Because I'm no prince charming and no knight in shinning armor or whatever the merchandise they're trying to sell. I'm average in every aspect. Average looks, average intelligence, average paycheck at the end of the month, and I'm not interested in a relationship."

A million thoughts crossed Ling's mind. I'm not buying a knight in shinning armor. And definitely NOT a Prince. And your look is way above average... She decided to edit the answer.

"They never told you were anything special. And I am not looking for a relationship, either. What makes me think... What exactly did they tell you about me?"

The intonation Ling put in her question put Wei Jun at defensive.

"It's not like that! It's just that since my last girlfriend broke up with me they've been playing matchmakers and telling me about this or that wonderful girl I should meet, and telling those girls tales about just how incredible I am... and I am tired of this. I don't want a relationship. Not right now."

"I see..." Ling stayed in silence for a while. "Your friends are really well intentioned people. I even think they are right in encourage you into dating, even though their methods are annoying. My family policy says that the only way to heal your heart from a bad romance is finding another romance."

"What a twisted way of thinking."

Ling shrugged. "Better than sulking."

"Like you and your unemployed-ness. Now everything started making sense." His tone was again light and slightly sarcastic. "Sorry for being rude. I think they've finished gelding... I mean washing your cat. Drop by if that monster ever needs care."

And so Ling left the pet shop, carrying caged Banshee under an arm a a bag of cat food in the other.

* * *

><p>Ling turned on her computer, deciding to check Second Life's official website first. Asking politely almost never hurt.<p>

She was very surprised when the page didn't load. She tried again, then again, then waited a whole minute and tried again. Nothing. Frowning, she opened a command prompt and typed a few codes. The page started to load. Then a few uninvited codes appeared at the command prompt window and the site crashed again.

"What the..." she was genuinely puzzled. She typed a new, more elaborated code, and kept typing as the website loaded. This time she was prepared when the strange codes started to appear. A brief hacking battle started, but when Ling was about to drive the damaged digital signature away, her computer screen froze.

This situation asked for swearing, and not only half finished sentences.

"What the hell." Ling shook her head. This was no random virus someone had planted in Second Life's official website server. A virus like this would have a person with a strong purpose behind it. And whatever this purpose was, it would be definitely no good.

Ling formatted her computer, otherwise she wouldn't dare to use it again. While it was installing the operational system, she started searching for old computers in her room – the old laptops that she had refused throwing away even after buying more functional ones. They would be good enough for the task she had in mind. She also retrieved from a drawer pendrives in many colors.

"Was red 'firewalls' or 'dissembling firewalls'?" she muttered to herself. But she abandoned her doubts when she saw the black pendrive. Ling caressed it with a most diabolical smile in her face.

But before crashing into Second Life's very server, it wouldn't hurt to make one last legal trial. She took the telephone and dialed to Second Life Corporation's Customer Service.

* * *

><p><em>Second Life<em>

Finally the day had come. Four of the five overlords were reunited in Infinite City.

Of course, they wasted some time fooling around, watching Undying Man confess to a hundred twenty eight girls and be rejected a hundred twenty eight times, and listening to Winter Triumph's rumbles about Prince had disappeared with Xi Men Feng for a whole day. It took some time for them to get serious.

"The Flower Overlord has again failed to answer our summons."

The mood was gloom. It seemed like the only person who could be behind the assassins was the Flower Overlord...

"The Flower Overlord is dead." Ling entered the reunion room. Like many times in game, she had a presence bout her that made even overlords pay attention. "And you could have had the grace of at least PM-ing me to tell the reunion was about to start." She accused Prince.

"Dead? But at this time she would have already gone to the rebirth point and than back to her castle." Someone pointed.

"When I say 'dead', I mean it. Her character has disappeared. Hers, and her team's. Right now, in the Northern Continent, thousands of players are being impossibilited to log after they are killed."

Everyone paled.

"W-what... what does Second Life Company say about this?"

"It doesn't. Their web page is completely crashed, and they have yet to make official announcements. The company has received no less than ten thousand complaints already."

"How do you know that?"

"I threatened their Customer Service with lawyers and forced them to give me some statistics."

Winter Triumph seemed interested in Ling's methods of acquiring information, but someone brought the subject back to the disappearing characters.

"Does that mean someone installed a virus in Second Life?"

"Would that it was so." Ling said grimly. "This work looks system-made."

The repetitive question "How do you know that?" echoed again.

_Because I invaded their server to check_. She wanted to say.

"Secret service, emphasis on 'secret'." She said instead.

"But then, this means Second Life Company is sending assassins after the overlords and banishing its own players? This doesn't make sense."

Ling knew it didn't, but when everything else was impossible, what remained was bound to be the truth.

Just then, Infinite Castle shook.

The big figures of Second Life left the meeting room to find the lower level players running for life from a person that stood in mid-air.

Celestial.

_-Then it comes that talk between Prince and Celestial, if you already forgot, you can read it on Prince Revolution! It's in Volume 6, Chapter 4.-_

During this exchange, Ling was dumbstruck. Of course Ming Huang's team had reported about NPC's revolting in the Northern Continent, but she'd thought it a programmed revolt. Self aware NPC's were a bit too fantastic to conceive... and far more troublesome if they did exist. Why was Prince so keen with that theory?

Neurotic seemed to have similar doubts as Prince recounted his experience with Celestial at the Vale of the Wandering Nymphs.

"Really?" Neurotic scratched his head as he said, "We were with you then too. But although Celestial's behavior was a little strange, it didn't come to my mind that he was starting to have his own intelligence."

"Eh, Prince, I'm not saying that you're lying." Suspicious, DanDan asked carefully, "But, are you hiding something from us?"

All eyes locked expectantly on Prince.

"Let me explain!" a life saving voice rang out. Everyone turned around and realized that it was Lolidragon, who had disappeared for days. "This Dictator of Life Celestial mentioned was designed the ultimate boss for Second Life."

"High intellectual development has caused a severe problem. A handful of boss-level NPCs are starting to have their own consciousness due to high intellectual development, of which we have the highly sophisticated Dictator of Life being the most severe problem. Since the beginning, the gaming company had started using technology to allow the Dictator of Life's intellectual development to reach the highest level possible, even allowing him to learn skills on his own and giving him the power to change the rules of the game. This is done so that Second Life's programming can achieve zero human interference. Hence, the Dictator of Life, the final NPC, who would never be biased, was chosen."

"In conclusion, the Dictator of Life is something like the god of Second Life?" The soft words from Yu Lian-dàsăo shocked the whole crowd.

"Yes." After taking in a deep breath, Lolidragon tried to continue, but was interrupted by a raging Ling.

"ARE YOU [meaning the gaming company] NUTS?"

"First of all, that is ILLEGAL! Only military computers (and of only a few countries) are allowed to have above 90% artificial intelligence, and, don't matter the artificial intelligence, a computer can't be responsible for it's own maintenance, it ALWAYS has to have some human interference. Computer A can check on Computer B, and Computer B on Computer A, but both computers have to be checked by human technicians periodically."

Lolidragon didn't knew high level A.I.'s out of government surveillance were illegal. It was Long Dian and her dad who had dealt with these details. Knowing this only made the next thing even more difficult to say.

"Well... I guess it's too late for that, because the Second Life Gaming Company can no longer control this god of the game anymore."

"Wait... how do you know what's going on with Second Life Company?"

"Lolidragon, what's your relation with the company?"

The responsible voices (like Wolf, White Bird and Winter Triumph) demanded to know.

"She's a hidden GM."

"She's the daughter of the president of Second Life Company."

Prince and Ling revealed simultaneous and dismissively, avid to finish the subject of the Dictator of Life. Then they stared at each other in shock and looked towards Lolidragon seeking confirmation.

"The president's daughter?"

"A hidden GM?"

While all onlookers tried to grasp the shocking news, Lolidragon ignored Prince and demanded from Ling.

"How did you find that out?"

"I recognized you from a photography on Long Dian's desk."

"When did you..?"

"In a picture in a programmer magazine. Probably the last time he gave an interview before finishing the game and disappearing."

"Who's Long Dian?" Prince was lost.

Ling's eyes lit up.

"He's like the most incredible programmer in the world, the mastermind behind the whole Second Life project, the guy who made me loose my job." The way she talked about it, she didn't hold any grudge. Instead, she sounded almost... Prince shivered – fangirlish.

Lolidragon was forced to explain how, as the daughter of Second Life's President, she ended up as a hidden GM, and only then resumed explaining about the Dictator of Life. She told about his self-awareness and about the program HD, and how the company had only managed to quarantine him in the Northern Continent. And then, she asked for the players help.

"You [meaning the gaming company] are shameless." Ling then said. "You created a game using unstable – and actually illegal – methods, and then ask your customers for solutions? That is truly pathetic, as for the Dictator of Life... delete him."

"But that would be killing him. You can't possibly kill a..." Prince started to protest.

"...a person?" she finished for him. "Of course we can't kill a person. The Dictator of Life is a computer program."

"But he... he's self-aware, he has emotions! You heard Celestial's message, he just want to stay alive."

Ling yes softened a bit before hardening even more.

"Then what kind of help is Second Life Corporation asking of us? Certainly they aren't asking for us to hack into the Dictator's systems, when themselves weren't able to? Or is it that they hope us to solve everything by talking and then coexist peacefully?" The question took everyone by surprise. It made sense. What kind of hep could the company want from them? They looked at Lolidragon expectantly.

"We... can't afford to let the Dictator of Life continue to exist. His existence endangers not only Second Life, but all virtual domain and even the real world." She said reluctantly.

"So, you see, Prince." Ling looked at Lolidragon as one might a flea or a cockroach. "If a self-aware NPC counts as a 'person' – as I think it does – Second Life Corporation is already decided to kill this person called the Dictator of Life. The corporation just want to use us players to do their dirty work. And I won't accept that."

"Then what would you suggest?" Lolidragon roared, finally loosing her patience.

"To solve everything by talking and then coexisting peacefully. I am serious! Right now I can think about three or fours ways this can happen, but if everyone puts enough effort in it, we'd rapidly achieve a dozen different solutions."

"For example?" Lolidragon was skeptic.

"Well, it depends a lot on what the Dictator and his party of self-aware NPC's want to do. Perhaps they want to travel the world and live adventures, then we could change the system to make them just like players – that can't log off. If they are happy living where they do, and just don't want to be targeted and killed, we could change the quests so that instead of killing the bosses you have to... I don't know, answer three riddles or fulfill three of their requests. And if they really, really loathe the very sight of a human being, we could make an isolated island inaccessible to players where they could live peaceful lives. Oh, and we should also take measures to guarantee that never, ever, a NPC will become self-aware again."

"What you're saying is possible, but only if the Dictator of Life is destroyed, otherwise..."

No one was in a mood for suspense. Gui urged.

"Otherwise?"

"Otherwise the whole Second Life will have to be destroyed."

For many of the presents, time seemed to stop. Some of them paled, thinking of their in-game friends that they had never met in real life. Some regret the adventures they had yet to live. Some simply contemplated the loss of that light environment where they could fool around and show their true selves.

"Then destroy it." Ling said, without mercy. "It's just a game, but it's not fun anymore. We'll be better without it."

"No! Second Life can't disappear!" Fairsky shouted in utter fear. Ling looked at her, not undestanding. Fairsky held onto Sunshine as if afraid to let go. Prince also looked at Sunshine and suddenly he seemed worried sick about something. He then looked at Kenshin and said, emotively.

"I won't let the two of you disappear."

"Then what are you going to do? Kill the Dictator of Life?" Kenshin responded coldly, "Kill him to save us?"

Infinite City watched without understand while Prince talked to Kenshin and Sunshine. But Ling wasn't paying attention anymore. Her brain had unplugged when she suddenly understood the reason Prince had accepted the idea of self-aware NPC's so easily, and the origin of a few quirks in the behavior of two persons she was acquainted with. She wasn't very surprised when Sunshine declared, against Prince's and Faisky's protests:

"I am an NPC! An NPC with its own intelligence, to be more accurate. I am currently Prince's humanoid pet."

In the end, they still decided to go to war. Ling shook her head. Helpless. When everyone was distracted with the preparations, she approached Kenshin.

"And what do you think about this?" She asked, as if continuing a previous conversation.

He was silent, as he often was.

"I already know that Sunshine wants to live, but what about you? Do you want to live?" She continued, and this time she waited for long minutes.

"I suppose I don't want to die." He said at least.

"It's fair." Ling agreed. And then, she added. "I will smuggle the two of you out of Second Life in safety, if necessary. You won't disappear."

Kenshin looked at her, wary as he ever was of human's intentions. He hated that look of pity they had sometimes, or their naive hopes of a better future, but that was not what he saw in Ling's eyes. In fact, she was barely looking at him, her eyes determined and focused in whatever plan she had to _make_ that better future happen.

"Is it true that you work with... programming?" He suddenly couldn't resist asking.

"Yes."

"Then can you... create NPC's?"

Ling smiled at him.

"I can, but that is not exactly what you want to know. Ask me truly, and I swear I'll answer truly."

"Am I... just lines and lines of code?" He looked shaken while asking this.

Instead of answering immediately, Ling gave the question some though, for which he was grateful. He couldn't stand a well-intentioned lie.

Finally Ling started drawing in the earth with her staff.

"What do you think is this?" She asked him.

"It looks like a person to me."

"It is a person." Ling agreed. "Or rather, this is a representation of a person. This stick-man has legs and arms, body and head, but a real person has hands and feet, hair, eyes, ears, internal organs we can't see, dreams, fears... You, Kenshin, can, indeed, be represented as lines and lines of code, but that is not what you are. You are far more complex than this."

Chapter End

* * *

><p><strong>Catalyst, chapter 10, won't come anytime soon because my vacations have come to an end. But I can give you a teaser. I'm planning something along the lines of...<strong>

**Chapter 10 –** (undefined name)

_In which Ling goes off line. In which Second Life Corporation is charged. In which Second Life changes forever. In which Ling gets a new job._

**Yes, that's right. Next chapter will probably be the final chapter, then the epilogues and the credits. Please review!**


	13. Chapter Ten

**Welcome to the last chapter of 'Catalyst'.**

**I am TRULY, truly sorry for making you wait so long. I hope you enjoy it, and please review.**

**Please note that all computer stuff is made up in the spot. I don't know if what Ling does with the computers has any resemblance with how hacking actually works, so I just wrote what seemed to make sense. Instead of a technical language (which I myself don't know) I try to explain things trough analogies. And anything that looks like computer code is a random rubbish I came up with, together with a few scraps of C language. **

**Also note that I wrote this chapter in a hurry, specially the second half, so don't mind if grammar sucks and sentences are phrased weirdly.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10 – <strong>Final Deal

_In which Ling goes off line. In which Second Life Corporation is charged. In which Second Life changes forever. In which Ling gets a new job._

* * *

><p><em>Second Life<em>

"So, since Devious Flame is back to his habit of not logging when I do" Ling asked Spring Nymph and the other girls "can you tell me why are the three of you so keen into finding him a girlfriend?"

Their first answer was to deny fervently.

"Don't try to deny it, I met him in that pet shop where he works and he told me you are playing match maker."

They finally dropped the act and decided to tell the story.

"Well," Wei began "I'm sure you've heard about the Flower Overlord?"

_Not ICIA again..._ Ling though, but nodded.

"Well, it's said she has a nasty personality, like... egoistic, narcissist, possessive, proud..."

"Dev's girl was exactly like her." Joy interrupted, before Wei ran out of adjectives. "In fact, if I recall correctly, the two of them used to be friends in real life and played with the feelings of the boys around them for fun."

"And the Flower Overlord's five husbands," Wei resumed the tale "those fanatic, love-smitten fools, Dev was just like them. But while they were five, Dev was just one, and one man alone wasn't enough to satisfy that viper's lust."

"And he was dumped." The younger girl finished. "Disposed like the trash she though every human being besides herself to be."

Ling shivered. Wei and Joy were good storytellers. That girl seemed the very incarnation of evil. Even so...

"Even so, you should give Devious Flame a time. It _is_ my personal belief that the best thing to heal your heart from a bad romance is a new romance, but you can't possibly go forcing girls on him. His heart will heal, if you give him enough time."

"That is what I've been telling the girls for twelve months after she broke up with him." Nymph said quietly.

"Twelve months?" Ling felt a little uneasy. All of her girl friends, no matter how bad the heartache had been, were fine after half this time. Maybe boys had a different emotional metabolism?

"Yes. Then I gave them leave to start pestering him, and we've been playing matchmakers for two years now." Spring Nymph finished, and Ling couldn't believe it.

"Three years? He hasn't dated for three years after that... that... that _girl_ rejected him?" It was obvious from her tone that she intended a word much more venomous than "girl".

"Do you see our point now? It's not as if he'd spent the last three years sulking or anything, but he's not going on yet." Wise Spring Nymph explained.

Looking back at her own resolution to stop sulking, Ling shivered. Was she just being like Devious Flame? After giving up Gui would she be unable to love? She shook her head to dispel these thoughts. She had more pressing matters at hand.

"Is Vampire Garlic going to take much longer to log in?"

"No, I'm sure he's already logging."

As if to confirm his girlfriend's words, Vampire Garlic appeared with a slight shimmer of air.

"Hi, girls."

_Finally_. Ling though.

* * *

><p>"Everyone, I have an announcement to do."<p>

They looked at Ling with inquiring expressions. What was it, so suddenly?

"Did you hear about the convocation?" They shook their heads, and Ling had to smile. Her little group of friends was so carefree, never knowing of the complexities of Second Life's current state... "The Blood Elf, Prince, Overlord of the Central Continent, has issued a convocation for all players in the continent to met in Infinite City tonight. There he will communicate the decisions the Four Overlords, together with Second Life Company, reached about the future of this game."

Her friends were silent for a long time, before the questions began to arise.

"Four Overlords? But there are five continents..." Vamp complained.

"The whereabouts of the Flower Overlord from the Northern Continent are to be revealed in the meeting at Infinite City, but she and her teammates cannot be found in this game anymore."

"Why are you suddenly talking formally?" Joy inquired. At the same time, Wei asked the important question.

"When did you learn about this convocation? We haven't heard a word about it!"

"I suspected so, because you've been training in the wild for some time without stopping in the cities. They're announcing this reunion in all the cities since yesterday night, when the overlords reached their consensus."

"But since then, you only logged now, exactly like us!" Joy was baffled. "How could you know..."

"Ling's 'other friends' are from Infinite City." Nymph said, simply. Ling loved how smart the older girl was. Well, maybe Nymph wasn't exactly "older", but she was so smart and mature!

"Really?" Wei was suddenly excited. "Have you even seen Prince, then? And that dark elf Wicked, from Infinite Band?"

"What, you won't ask about the demon bard Guileastos, too?"

"Nah," Wei waved her hand dismissively "his musics are great, but he's not my type."

Ling laughed. Who'd have known Wei was a Infinite Band fangirl?

"Well, I _did_, in fact, see Prince. And Wicked. I spend half the time I'm away from you running between their offices."

They took sometime to make sense of that statement.

"You're saying you know them personally?!" Wei almost screamed.

"You're saying you work in Infinite Castle?!" Vampire Garlic shouted.

"You traitor!" Joy accused playfully. "You never told us you were one of the big figures!"

"I couldn't tell you, it was a secret."

"So now it's not?"

"Not entirely..."

The others moaned.

"Stop creating suspense, tell already!"

Ling shrugged.

"Okay. I am head of Infinite City Intelligence Agency."

"The head of what?" Vampire Garlic asked, wanting to make sure he hadn't misheard.

"Infinite City Intelligence Agency."

"I have never heard of it." Wei said, suddenly suspecting Ling was trying to make fun of them.

"Sounds like some sort of spy thing..." Joy said.

"Because it is a spy thing." Ling commented cheerfully. "And of course you guys haven't heard of it. In the earlier stages ICIA was a secret organization so secret that half the staff of Infinite Castle never knew it even existed."

"Then how come you joined it?" Vampire Garlic inquired.

"I didn't _join_ it, I founded it." She laughed out loud at their faces of disbelief, and refused to say more.

* * *

><p>The central plaza in Infinite City was swarming with people.<p>

"I'm sorry you guys never had the chance to go sightseeing. Infinite City is really beautiful." Ling apologized to her party. "Now I have to join the military, White Bird is PMing me like crazy."

As she disappeared in the crowd, the overlord of the Central Continent got up from his seat, and then there was silence.

After Prince finished speaking, to Ling's great surprise and dismay, the multitude of players decided to _support_ this crazy war against the Dictator of Life.

Once the support of the crowd was granted, the heads of the military department all rose to speak in turn, explaining further details and proposing strategies. White Bird, Wolf, Wicked and Zhui talked, and when he was finished, Ling thought everyone was going to be dismissed, until White Bird speak again.

"And, finally, the last member of the military council, Ling Niu, spymaster of Infinite City Intelligence Agency, will give you a brief explanation about ICIA and it's objectives."

Ling cursed inwardly. It was not White Bird's decision to make ICIA public, but – worse than that – Ling hadn't prepared a speech.

"ICIA's main strength, as a secret organization, was the 'secret' part." Ling started, serious, then allowed herself a smile. "White Bird has just blown up our cover forever. But it doesn't matter any more, of course, because the decisive battle in the history of Second Life is already lost. We don't have any chance of winning against the Dictator of Life. ICIA was created because information is vital to winning a war, and the Dictator of Life has _all_ information in Second Life. You choose to fight? It's not too late for changing your mind. There is life outside Second Life. _Real_ life. And when real life won't do you still have half a hundred MMO's you can play."

"The Dictator of Life knows our very moves, so I don't see a point in trying to keep secrets or even gathering data on him, so I don't know if ICIA will have anything to do in this war. But is not of my business anymore. I'm resigning, and ICIA's role in this war is to be decided by my second in command, whose name I will not reveal. If you want to join ICIA, don't try to find us. ICIA will find you."

Ling wasn't particularly charismatic, so instead of a shocked silence, her speech was followed by murmurs, boos and other manifestations of disagreement. She tried not to pay attention as she left the stage, but it was getting on her nerves.

Her distress was only relieved when a few familiar faces appeared before her.

"Hey, Ling, that was a speech that made you quite unpopular." Vampire Garlic pointed.

"It can't be helped." She tried to sound cool.

"But I think you're right." Vamp continued. "It's completely one thing to defeat a boss that follows the rules, and another to defeat a boss that _makes_ the rules."

"I guess we'll have nothing to do in Second Life until this crisis ends." Joy said, a little downcast.

Nymph patted the younger girl in the head.

"Don't worry, Joy. If we stop logging in Second Life, we won't lose our characters, and when everyone who died in the war starts playing again, they'll have to start from scratch while we will be the top players."

Ling, Vampire Garlic, Joydrop and Lovely Wei all stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"What?" Nymphe asked in confusion.

"Nothing..." they said. _To think gentle and wise Spring Nymph would have a side that thought like this..._

And finally it was time for Ling to go. Everyone who was of a mind to scold her scolded her. She and Kenshin exchanged a meaningful look. And then she logged off.

* * *

><p><em>Real Life<em>

Ling put the gaming helmet in the shelf besides her books and looked at those escaping tools with longing.

"Reality never seems as awful as when you're stuck in it", she reflected, and turned to the telephone and computer. First things first, she took the telephone and dialed a number.

"Qing Lu? Guess who? It's me, Ling. Is charging a billionaire company still your dream as a lawyer?" A pause. "Great. I called to fulfill your dream. I want to charge Second Life Company."

At the other end of the line, the young lawyer Qing Lu spat all his coffee in the computer screen. He and Ling had been fairly good friends during high school, and they had more or less kept close after that, but to ask of him something like this...

"Lu? Are you there?" Came Ling's worried voice.

"Yes, I'm here. I only... chocked."

He could practically hear her evil smile.

"Then?" She asked.

For a few seconds he hesitated.

"You want to charge them for what?"

"Disregard for the International Rules for AI Maintenance, putting on-line an unsafe game, and, if possible, disregard for the human rights."

Qing Lu was astonished.

"Do you have any proof of what you are saying?"

Suddenly his computer made a sound. He had received an e-mail.

Attached to the message, a copy of the International Rules for AI Maintenance and a video containing the recorded speeches the big figures of Second Life gave in Infinite City.

He took some time analyzing both archives, and Ling waited patiently in the line. Finally Qing Lu smiled faintly, a maniac look in his eyes.

"We're bringing Second Life Co. down."

* * *

><p>Being assured that her lawyer would take care of things, Ling could focus her attention in a task more suited to her capabilities. She connected her old laptops, so she would have three screens to work with, and then proceeded to invade Second Life's servers.<p>

One could object: "But she already did it in the last chapter!", but that is not quite true. Her first incursion to the game servers had been only probationary, she just wanted to find information on a player – and not modify it. And while she was on that she found out a lot of system bugs.

Now her objective was something completely different. She wanted access to the secret files and the power to modify the game at will.

She wanted to enter the Dictator of Life's stage.

* * *

><p>The first thing she needed was to get a foothold inside Second Life servers, because unless she was inside, their firewalls would give red alerts to her every movement. Not that those firewalls could give her trouble, Ling thought as she eyed the black pendrive. But she would need every little bit of memory to fight the real firewalls – the ones that protected the Dictator of Life before he went astray, and the ones he placed himself after going astray.<p>

Worse than that – she had to get in without allowing the Dictator to get out.

_Loading data..._

_Loading applications..._

_Executing script..._

_Running codes..._

Eveything run smoothly until she passed the first line of firewalls. After that things started to get tricky.

_fwrite(&n, sizeof(int), 1, fp);_

_semente = atol(argv[3]);_

_srand(semente);_

But she knew she didn't have to worry as long as the firewalls fighting her were automatized. From her own experience as a programmer, she knew computers were stupid. AI's were a little less stupid, but not significantly. It was of human beings one should be aware of.

Human beings, and self-aware artificial intelligences.

_static long int a = 100001;_

_Proccess terminated with 918.23 seconds._

_Initiating terminal..._

And she was in. Now, even if Second Life Corporation were to try and find her, they would only get their own IP address.

* * *

><p>Being inside the enemy lines, where should she sabotage first? Ling never took her eyes of the screen, while her hand groped the table in search of a package of something edible. She was aware that none of the supplies she had gathered for her hacking marathon were exactly healthy, but it couldn't be helped. If the world could be saved at the cost of her malnutrition... Then she remembered something.<p>

"Forget about the world, what of Kenshin and Sunshine?" the programmer muttered, and proceeded to find the lines of code that represented her friends. She had promised to smuggle them out of Second Life in safety, and that was what she was going to do.

She selected one part of the memory she was occupying in Second Life's server and transformed it in a miniature virtual reality. It was indeed a very minute miniature, like... if a player were to log in that world, he or she would find out that it only had the size of a small apartment. And it was completely void of... everything. It didn't have a sky with a sun and clouds, nor earth, grass or trees, not even furniture or a clear distinction between the floor and the scenery. Only bright white lights, that indefinite floor, and gravity to keep one glued to it.

Now Ling had a safe place to smuggle her friends to – at least temporarily.

Remained the question about the method she was going to use to transfer them from one virtual sphere to another.

_Ctrl+C_

_Ctrl+V_

Ling pressed the keys thoughtfully. She wasn't expecting it to work, but copy-pasting had never hurt anyone, and the error messages were usually useful to understand which rules she would have to break in order to achieve something.

_Command invalid. _

_An error has occurred in protocol 12#4567*90malloc#83_

_Permission %ü&/restruct denied for Security Level TF4-Beta_

…

Very well, the programmer – right now hacker – thought, and proceeded to look for protocol 12#4567*90malloc#83 and permission %ü&/restruct.

* * *

><p>As the minutes stretched to hours, Ling started having a déjà vu sensation, like she had already breached through these firewalls, perhaps when she was digging information on Northern Flower &amp; Husbands. Who would have thought that the security surrounding boss-level NPC's would resemble the security surrounding players so much? It was what Ling thought, until she found the unlabeled folder.<p>

It was a very unusual folder, a data container disguised as system folder, protected by all sorts of passwords and firewalls and unlabeled. And inside...

_Log protocol #100100001110010100.918273645 "Demon Lord Kenshin" ID:1357908642%6789_

_Initial location 2468097531£32o47'43 Wander log registry 777896543200"8894%_

And megabytes and megabytes of code that barely made sense to Ling. But there was a few things she could make out from that mess, and she proceeded to verify those things.

When she was done, her three computer screens were split in a dozen windows (besides the command prompt). A forum on MMO RPG's, open on a thead "Second Life's Beta Players, Where Are They?". Another forum, about anime, with photos of various cosplays wandering about in a convention. Some manuals on protocols from Second Life, extracted from the corporation files. Two newspaper's obituaries. A synopsis on an anime called "Rurouni Kenshin". And the catalog with all Second Life players information – also extracted from the corporation.

Ling sighed and held her head in her hands. Was it even possible? Even though she questioned herself, she knew she had come to the right conclusions.

Kenshin's ID was linked with a name and address from real life.

The computer records said that when this ID had last logged on, the connection was forcefully interrupted, and the brain activity after the incident was zero.

The obituary from the city where the owner of that ID used to live said that person was dead.

Ling shot one last glance towards the photography of the couple in the anime convention. A slender young man wearing Japanese styled clothing, with a X shaped scar upon his cheek and fiery red hair. Together with him, a pretty girl in a kimono.

Kenshin and Kaoru.

* * *

><p>Knowing that Kenshin was one of the missing beta players from Second Life, Ling understood why she couldn't copy-paste him, so she started looking for other means. And while she was at that, she started looking for the other betas.<p>

She didn't know she was going to find the entrance for Long Dian's lair.

* * *

><p>If Ling weren't alert, she would have missed it and would have been doomed, but as she was, she saw the malware the moment it began to spread in the monitor. One more time engaging herself in virtual combat, Ling found time to send a message.<p>

"_Are you Long Dian?"_

Surprisingly, an answer came.

"_No"_

Ling's heart skipped a bit. She had found a way to Long Dian's computer through Second Life's servers. Resistance was to be expected, but if Long Dian wasn't protecting his own computer, then the person countering Ling's virtual assault was...

"_You are the Dictator of Life"_

"_Yes"_

Ling sighed and typed a few lines, requesting an audio call. She didn't have hands enough to chat and hack at the same time. Besides, after all that she had read in Long Dian's files, she was convinced that maybe the only one who could actually help was that one truly self-aware artificial intelligence.

"Stop attacking us." The calm voice of the Dictator of Life sounded in Ling's headphones.

"Only if you stop first." She answered, trying to sound as calm as him.

The invader code disappeared from her screen.

"I want to talk to you." Ling said.

"Me?" The Dictator of Life sounded a little surprised.

"Yes, you. But please, tell me first, where is Long Dian now?" When the Dictator of Life didn't answer, she hurriedly explained. "Not his location nor nothing of sorts, just... what is he doing? I really though that he would come out at least to defend his virtual turf."

"He's... he's busy defending his real life... turf." The Dictator of Life answered, sounding a bit unsure about the use of the word "turf".

Ling nodded absentmindedly, making use of the truce with the NPC to keep working in the Kenshin-Sunshine project. Then she realized.

"Wait. His real life turf? Like... he has been located?"

"Yes"

"And now he is fighting the police?"

"Not... the police. Prince's party."

Before she knew what she was doing, Ling was dialing Min Gui Wen's number. No one answered.

_Damn you, Gui must be in there..._

"Do you have images?" She asked, and immediately a new window opened in her screens, with images from the security cams showing persons wearing power suits trying to fight killer robots and having their asses kicked.

She closed the window and regretted having asked. One of those persons could have been shot. One of those persons could have died. One of those persons was Gui.

* * *

><p>Wordlessly, Ling resumed hacking Long Dian's computer.<p>

"I told you to stop attacking us." The voice of Dictator of Life came as calm as ever while he effortlessly fought the girl's virtual attack.

Ling shook her head.

"Long Dian's gone mad. He has to be stopped before he does something evil."

"Father is not evil." The Dictator of Life protested. "He just want to be happy together with the people that he loves."

At that moment Ling found a folder the artificial intelligence had been trying to hide.

"Long Dian's sick." She said, after a moment. "He's going to die."

"Father does not intend to."

"Then what's his plan?"

The Dictator of Life answered nothing.

"Whatever... I'll bet is just something evil" The hacker muttered, more to herself than to him, but the Dictator of Life started defending Long Dian all the same.

"Father isn't evil, he's..."

"You know nothing, Dictator of Life." Ling interrupted. " You haven't been alive for five years yet. In Second Life you are god, and you rule over every breeze passing through the leaves of every tree, but in the ways of life you're a child still. You're too young to know what's good and what's evil."

Before the NPC could reply, something changed drastically. An impenetrable shell rose around Long Dian's systems, like a wall Ling could never break. But she didn't despair. That wall was the kind that worked both ways. She was shut out, but Dian and the Dictator were shut in.

It was a high security mode meant to preserve the integrity of the system during physical alteration.

In the window that the Dictator had opened on her screen, Ling saw Long Dian scaping in an aircraft.

* * *

><p>Being given a break from her virtual battle, Ling had the time to take a shower and clear her room of the cup noodles' cups that she had been consuming in the last 36 hours. But when she considered taking a nap her phone rang.<p>

For a crazy second she hoped it would be Gui, calling to say he was okay and that she didn't have to worry. The she pressed the call button and Qing Lu started reporting his adventures at the courtroom. Things were going fast. In fact, too fast. She would be needed at the tribunal in the next day, to do the technical talk in programming.

Nodding absentmindedly, Ling ended the call, programmed an alarm to sound as soon as there was virtual movement coming from Long Dian's side, and went to her well deserved nap.

* * *

><p>Ling woke up to the sound of the Red Alert she had programmed, only to find the blazon of arms of some country and their system already half invaded.<p>

She had her fingers darting across the keyboard before the thoughts could form words in her brain. There wasn't time to think "Long Dian is trying to take control over missiles". There was barely any time to stop him from having success.

Someway she managed to call the Dictator of Life.

"Stop it." She asked, not bothering if she sounded like pleading. She _was_ pleading. She would _beg_, if necessary. "Please, stop it."

"I can't." He answered in his too resigned tone. "Father has commanded me. He needs to convince the governments o give him the things he needs."

"Can't he just go and buy these damned things he needs?"

At the same time she said it, she realized she couldn't defeat the Dictator of Life in this battle. So, instead, she choose the ground where she would loose.

"There is not enough time." The Dictator said.

"Pay high, threaten, use the government watermark! But not the missiles..." Ling trailed off, concentrating on the symbols at the screen while she typed. "If you are not evil, then you don't want to hurt people. When you do love someone, you're not that eager to take someone else's beloved. And these missiles..." she trailed off again. "... will kill people that someone loves."

"..." There was a distinct pause while the Dictator of Life – or maybe, Ling hoped, Long Dian – considered the matter, but the pause was theirs, not hers, and when the last firewall Ling had put up broke down, Long Dian had complete access over...

… all the bank accounts in the world.

* * *

><p>That the world had met the greatest economic crisis in all of its history, Ling cared nothing. Economic crisis still sounded a lot better than thousands of deaths caused by a nuclear weapon.<p>

The following morning found Ling fighting sleep in the tribunal, while she and her lawyer waited for the arrival of Second Life Company's representative.

"They were never so late before..." Qing Lu muttered, eying his half asleep friend slash client with sympathy. He knew she probably had stayed awake all night, perhaps digging more information on the company they were charging.

Suddenly, the President of Second Life Company himself marched into the tribunal, lawyers and secretaries trailing behind him. Qing Lu shuddered. It was said that Father Long had an imposing figure, but he never expected the businessman to have such an intense aura.

Then Quing Lu noticed something weird. Father Long seemed to have had as little sleep as Ling. That a unemployed programmer spent a sleepless night he could understand very well, but what was it that could make the sleep flee from the eyes of the rich and powerful owner of President of Second Life Company?

He was forced to abandon this trail of track when the judge declared the beginning of the session.

As the session progressed, Qing Lu wasn't sure they were winning. He at least, wasn't able to understand a single thing in the programmers debate. But Father Long's frown was deepening, so he supposed whatever Ling was saying, the experts from Second Life Co. weren't able to refute.

And then the Judge called for an interval, and the lawyer sighed, then got tho his feet and went after a coffee machine.

* * *

><p>"Miss Eng Ling?"<p>

In her drowsy state, Ling was startled when someone called her name, and twice as startled when she looked up and met Father Long's stare.

"Mister Long." She complimented warily.

"I wish to talk to you in private, Miss Eng."

Ling glanced around. Father Long's lawyer were at the other side of the room, Qing Lu had disappeared and no one seemed to be paying any attention to them.

"Here seems private enough for me, Mister Long."

He nodded, as if that was the answer he expected.

"I wish to know for how long have you been hosted in my company's servers, Miss Eng", Father Long cut right to the point.

"Do you have proof that I have been there at all, Mister Long? Or do you think to accuse me of hacking to demerit the arguments I have presented to the press so far?"

Father Long frowned.

"The military department of XYZ country made contact with me in the middle of the night. Appearently, the Dictator of Life came very _very_ close to take control of weapons of mass destruction, but was deflected by a hacker... that was hosted in Second Life servers."

Inwardly, Ling cursed. Why did the government hackers had to be so damnably good? If she hadn't been in that server for days they would certainly have found the trail to her own computer, and who could know if they weren't going to attack first and ask questions after? But then again, if the government hackers weren't good, the Dictator of Life would have been able to push the military firewalls aside like silk curtains, and thousands of people could have died.

Outside, Ling managed to maintain some composure.

"It seems to me that your game is not safe at all, Mister Long. First you have the most powerful – and illegal – AI in the world falling in the hands of a psycho, then you have hackers hosting in your server."

"You don't need to pretend it wasn't you, Miss Eng. I know how to sum two and two. And unfortunately, you are right. After this ruckus, my game doesn't _seem_ to be safe, and I can already see the decision of shutting down Second Life clear in the judge's mind."

Ling waited patiently for him to continue.

"But the shutting down of Second Life would be a social phenomena with worldwide consequences. And, as both of us know, useless when it comes to stop Long Dian. In fact, as both of us know, when the Dictator of Life was handling the game, it was perfectly safe, and even now, only a few handpicked hackers are able to get past the firewalls."

"So, what do you suggest?"

"Drop the charges against Second Life Company." Father Long said, in a compelling voice that suggested it was the most sensible thing to do. "Don't be the woman who ruined the game with the most potential in the history of gaming. You will be doing a favor to millions of players, and you'll find out it will be a great... rewarding feeling."

Listening to him, Ling figured the last sensible screw in her brain must have been loose since long, for she wasn't appealed by his propose at all. In fact, she was slightly amused. A great company was offering to bribe her in exchange for canceling the accusations, which must mean she was going to win.

"That won't do, Mister Long. Even if half the world population will be bored to the edge of suicide, I won't be satisfied while this unsafe game is still on-line."

Anger flashed across his face, but was gone so fast that Ling was unsure whether she had seen it or just imagined it.

"What is your suggestion then, Miss Eng? What would you do in my position?"

"Hire someone competent to fix the security system, and shut down the game until it is safe again."

"I can't afford to close Second Life for an extended period of time."

"Then hire someone really competent, someone that can solve it fast."

This time Father Long's anger didn't disappear.

"And how long do you think _you _ would take to solve it? One week?"

Ling sneered.

"One week? To solve it, it would take creating an AI as capable as the Dictator of Life, but without the seed for self-awareness, or worse, create a system that works without a managing AI, which is to say, a completely new gaming system! It would take at least one month..." That last part was meant for herself, but Father Long heard and his next sentence caught the girl unaware.

"Just tell me your salary range, Miss Eng, and I will have my secretary redacting your contract. I mean to hire you as Chief of Network Security for Second Life version 2.0"

* * *

><p>"You are offering me a job." Ling said, when that last sentence finally sank in.<p>

"I am meeting the requirements for you to drop the charges against my company. I am shutting this 'unsafe game' for one month, and when it goes on-line again it's security system will be flawless, for I don't have any doubts about the competence of my new hired Security Chief."

The programmer though about telling him she hadn't accepted his propose yet. Then she thought "Who am I kidding?" And, aloud she said:

"I want the job."

And that is the story of how Ling got a new job.

The end.

* * *

><p>"Dictator of Life? Are you there?"<p>

"Yes." Came the tranquil voice, and Ling sighed in relief.

"I called you to warn that Second Life will be shut."

"That is no problem for Father and me. I am already outside Second Life, remember?"

"Yes, it's just..." The girl hesitated. "You said that after Long Dian merged with you, he would be able to build himself a new body."

"He will be."

Ling was a long time silent. The Dictator of Life had such a sad voice. Finally she said.

"I was afraid Long Dian had already merged with you."

"It... it will happen soon."

"I will miss you, Dictator of Life. You are a good kid." Ling said, then gathred her courage to go to the point that had led her to call the artificial intelligence."I need a favor from Long Dian. I would ask you, but it's not for now, and you won't be around to do it for me, then."

"I will take your message for him, but you know I can guarantee nothing."

"I know. But if you are right and your... father is not an evil person, then he will have no reason to not do what I will ask."

And she told the Dictator of Life about her idea.

* * *

><p>"Er... Dictator of Life..." She though of one last thing she wanted to say. "I wish... there was a way to solve it without you dying."<p>

After a long, long pause, his calm voice replied.

"I, too, wish I could live a little longer."

"Well, if you want... you could pick a place to call your... your grave... and I could bring you flowers there." Ling said what was in her mind, knowing how weird it was, but at the same time trying to give the little comfort she could offer.

"If I choose a place... can you bring Prince there?" For the first time, the voice of the Dictator of Life shook.

"I will bring him there." Ling promised. To herself, she added "every month in the first year, and every year after then, while both of us live". She didn't say it aloud because she didn't trust her own ability to keep this promise.

"Thank you, Ling. There... there is a place..."

* * *

><p><em>Three days after<em>

The official website of Second Life was on-line again, and Feng Lan had opened it for perhaps the first time, to read about the great update. Starting that night, Second Life would be shut down for one month, by the end of which the game would have suffered a complete reform.

"I can't believe we really lost our characters." She complained for the hundreth time.

"Still mourning over Prince?" Gui asked, grinning over the rim of his tea cup. "I thought you were already past that."

"It's not over Prince I'm mourning..." Lan pouted. "Nor over the demon bard Guileastos, for that matter. It's our status! We'll have to train from level 1 again. What if we never get as strong as we were before?"

Gui kept his silence. He planned to keep playing Second Life, but he still wasn't such a fan of RPG that he would mourn over his dead character. Besides, the Feng twins together complained enough for a six members team.

"Talking about six members team..." Gui said, putting a stop to the twins conversation. "If we don't go now, I think we'll get late."

"True." Lan glanced at her watch. "Yang Ming, are you sure you don't want to come?"

"Nah. Even if it isn't my crazy sister who's going to drive, today's Odd Squad meeting day, and I am Dark Emperor. Sworn enemies, remember?"

"Okay, I'll tell Lolidragon that when she asks why you didn't come..."

The twins argued all the way to Gui's car, and only stopped when he started the engine.

"Professor Min." Feng Yang Ming said, suddenly serious. "I will have your hide if my sister isn't home at 10 PM."

Gui laughed halfheartedly. Yang Ming and Lan were so alike in some aspects that he never knew when to take threats seriously. He could only hope such a stern warning was proof that Yang Ming accepted him as Lan's boyfriend. He had been almost sure Yang Min would support Wicked – Zhuo Lin Bin – he corrected himself.

"Gui, let's go!" Lan's voice woke him from his reflections.

And they went for they reunion with the rest of Odd Squad, while they waited for Second Life to come back.

THE END.

* * *

><p><strong>And that is it.<strong>

**Thanks for reading my first fanfiction ever, and thanks for everyone who reviewed. Review again, telling your opinions and suggestions. It will help me improve.  
><strong>

**Of course, there is a few things that need to be cleared in the epilogue, but the main reaction, the reaction catalyzed by Ling, ends here.**

**Thanks again for reading.**


	14. Among Friends (First Epilogue)

**Among Friends **

The first epilogue for Catalyst

"_I'm crazy flowing over with ideas_

_A thousand ways to woo a lover so sincere..."_

Lind sang to herself in a volume that wouldn't startle the other persons waiting to get their luggage in the crawler at the airport.

She had spent one month living in a hotel near the head-office of Second Life Corporation. Not that she had seen much of her hotel room, workaholic as she was. But now she was going home, with the smug feeling of a job well done. The new gaming system of Second Life was the headache-inducing kind of complicate, but the players didn't have to worry about that. The only thing the players had to know was that the gaming experience was going to be twice as good as the former one.

So now she was going home.

It was so good to have a job! The certainty of the money at the end of the month, to pay her bills, buy her books and have her fun at the movies or the karaoke. Even better, given the nature of her job, she could work from home, going to the office only once in a while.

Silently she prayed she would only stop working for Second Life Corporation when she was so good that employers came to her instead of the other way around – she wouldn't suffer any more job interviews. Hell must be a place where you have to do job interviews one after the other for the rest of eternity.

-\-|-/-

When she got out of the taxi, she looked at the pension where she had her home sweet home. The pension consisted more or less of eight small apartments in two stories, all connected by a corridor and staircase opened to the yard. Ling rose her head to look at the door of her apartment in the second floor...

And the door was wide open.

Ling climbed the stairs with some apprehension. She doubted there would be thieves in her house in broad daylight, but she had an imagination too fertile for her own good. When she was halfway through the corridor, though, a black blur jumped out of her apartment, with a high-pitched cry of "MEWEEER!".

"Come back here your filth ball of fur, I'm going to barbecue you!" A girl with a ponytail left Ling's apartment in pursuit of the beast.

Unconsciously, Ling extended her arms and the cat jumped happily towards them.

"Hey, Banshee, I missed you too." the programmer said absentmindedly to the purring cat. She stared at the ponytail girl.

_Prince._

"Did you catch him? I hope he didn't scratch you?" An all too familiar voice came from inside Ling's apartment. Ling's heart sunk.

_Gui._

-\-|-/-

At the same time she felt her heart sinking, Ling felt extremely disappointed at herself. She had spent the last month with barely a thought of him. Wasn't she supposed to have get past that?

But then, she reflected, once she had spent five years without word from him, and it wasn't enough to cure her of her love-sickness. Perhaps one month knowing she had lost was as ineffective as five years of uncertainty.

And – she felt anger building inside herself, anger that she fought to keep out of her face – it was very well that Gui was in her apartment, she had asked him to keep an eye on Banshee, after all. But what was _she _doing here? Did he have to bring _her_ to her apartment?

-\-|-/-

"Ling!" He seemed so happy to see her that it was painful.

"Hi, Gui." She said faintly.

"We were passing by, and I thought to give a last check on Banshee before you were back. I only expected you tomorrow."

"I was lucky. The job was finished a day earlier." Ling said, avoiding eye contact with the ponytail girl. "Did Banshee give you trouble?"

"He gave me a nasty scratch the first time I came, but except by that it was fine."

"I see..." Ling scratched Banshee behind the eyes and the cat purred again.

"How did you tame this beast, Ling?" Gui shook his head, astonished.

"With love." Ling grinned slyly. "So... do you intend to introduce me to your girlfriend or do I have to keep calling her 'Prince' and 'ponytail girl'?"

Ling had to laugh at their startled faces.

"What? Do you want to know how I knew?" There were a thousand reasons. Ponytail girl _did_ look like Prince. Gui wouldn't date anyone else. And even if he did, he wouldn't bring a complete strange to Ling's apartment. She had already seen the two of them together. Instead she said. "Secret service..."

"Emphasis on 'secret'" Gui and the girl completed. The girl added. "Ming Huang also said that all the time, after you put him in charge of ICIA. I'm Feng Lan, but my friends call me Xiao Lan."

For a childish moment Ling thought about not calling her Xiao Lan, but the moment was gone soon.

"Nice to meet you, Xiao Lan. Again. I mean, in real life." After a little thought, she added. "I would offer you something to eat, or perhaps tea, but the little food that remained in my apartment won't be anywhere near edible after one month."

"No, that's okay. We were already on our way." Gui said. "And you probably want to enjoy the quiet of your own home a little. After you're rested we can hang around and you can tell us all about your new job."

Ling chuckled.

"You Second Life addicted! Don't think I didn't hear your attempt to lure me into telling you the secrets of the super update! But it's not as if I know anything of the game itself. I only understand the system."

"So you say, Ling, so you say..." He teased, and he and Lan said their farewells again and left.

Ling entered her apartment, finally letting go of Banshee. The cat hurried to perch in his favorite spot of the sofa.

_Home, sweet home._

-\-|-/-

The quiet of her home was quite enjoyable, but not for long. Ling wasn't one of those person who got tired of traveling in a plane, so there was no need for rest. She took her cellphone.

_I'm back. How have you been doing? _

She texted this message for the five friends she still thought of as "her other friends". The first to answer was Joy. Always eager Joy.

_Hi Ling! When did you get back? Did your work go smoothly? Whatever you said you were going to do, it seemed extremely complicated to me. We are planning for karaoke this Friday, will you come?_

She had barely started answering when she received messages from Wei and Nymph, and to spare the trouble she started a group call.

"But, are you sure you'll go to the karaoke this Friday?" Ling asked. "That's when Second Life will be back on-line."

"We know." Wei said.

"It's our way of protesting." Joy explained. "Like last time we were amongst the last ones to start playing, this time we also won't let Second Life mess up with the rhythm of our lives."

Ling nodded, not bothering to say anything aloud. It was good to have friends that could think with their heads. She fingered a pen-drive hidden in a pocket. A shame Second Life had already messed up with the rhythm of _her_ life...

-\-|-/-

Friday.

Ling walked through familiar streets, deliberately not looking towards a certain cafe.

"Come on, Gui! We'll be late for the release!" Ling heard a voice she couldn't quite forget, even having heard this voice in real life only once. She stood very still, hoping she wouldn't be seen. "Hey, isn't that Ling? Hi, Ling!"

Too late.

"Hi, Lan. Hi, Gui." Ling complimented weakly.

"Will we see you tonight in Second Life?" Lan asked.

"No. I won't log tonight."

Even Gui was surprised hearing that.

"Why?"

"Protest. Second Life is a game, I will play only when I want to." Ling answered simply.

"Makes sense. Second Life turned most of our lives upside down." Gui agreed. Then, eying Lan as if she might take offense, he added hastily. "Not that I am complaining nor anything."

"And where are you going, if not home to play Second Life?" Lan asked, the very picture of innocence.

"Karaoke."

Lan's eyes shone.

"I love singing." She said, and eyed Gui and Ling expectantly. The two friends exchanged a quick glance and said nothing.

"I would do some protesting, also." Lan said, but Ling and Gui refused to acknowledge the message she was trying to convey.

"Why don't we go to the karaoke together?" She finally said.

"I don't know if it is a good idea..." Ling and Gui talked at the same time, then laughed nervously.

"Whatever." Ling said, finally. "The more, the merrier. If the both of you come, we'll be a crowd of eight."

"Eight? Who else is going?" Gui asked.

"Oh, some friends from Second Life. That crew I met outside Infinite City."

-\-|-/-

Introductions made, they were all chatting happily while waiting for their tun to sing.

"So, before playing Second Life, which game did you play?" Vampire Garlic asked.

"The World." Lan answered, and the friends cheered.

"Yay, we played The World too." Joy said. "Ling even worked there."

"Really? Gui never told me." Lan smiled.

Ling shrugged.

"He was never much into MMO RPG."

"Then what did you do to pass the time, if you didn't play RPG?" Nymph turned to ask Gui.

While the main focus of the conversation turned to him, Wei suddenly whispered to Ling.

"Ling, is he... _him_?"

The programmer nodded before she could think properly about the question.

"Then she is _her_." Wei said. That was not a question. "You said you just met them in your way here?"

"Yes..."

Wei turned and whispered something to Joy, who whispered something to Devious Flame. He looked at Ling worriedly. She tried to convey through her look that there was no need for worry, and when she gave up, the conversation in their table was dangerously close to dying, with her other friends looking between her and Gui and Lan.

"Ling, come with me." Joydrop grabbed Ling's hand and pulled her toward the girls toilet.

"Ling, why did you bring _them_ here?"

Clearly upset, she answered.

"It's not as if I could say, 'No, you can't come with me, I don't want your company.'"

"Then they really just walked into you and invited themselves to come?"

"Yes!"

"And they don't know they are _them_?"

"No! They wouldn't come, if they did. Not even these two can be so obtuse."

"I wish we could make it clear to them..." Joy said dangerously.

"Don't you dare!"

"I won't. We won't." Joy assured. "We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

They went back to their table, and Devious Flame met them halfway.

"I'm buying some drinks."

Joy nodded and finished her way to the table, while Ling accompanied Wei Jun. She glanced at the table. The conversation had resumed its normality.

"You are taking this heroically." He said, at least. "I couldn't be half as gracious when in the presence of my ex-girlfriend."

"I am not being gracious. I am fuming inside." She answered. "But perhaps I would be calmer if you guys hadn't brought the subject up."

Jun gave a nervous laughter.

"Sorry for that. I guess it is my fault. If hadn't sulked for so long they wouldn't be so intent on avoiding have you sulking."

Ling shook her head. She han't told him the girls had told her about his period of sulking, but Jun knew his girl friends all too well.

"And what are you going to do to compensate?" She caught herself asking.

"Ah... I don't know..." He looked startled.

"I like dancing." She said.

"Did you know one need a pair to subscribe to dancing lessons?" She volunteered a little bit more of information.

"I see..." Slowly Jun's expression changed to resolve. "I can be your dance partner, then."

"Okay, meet me at this address, every Tuesday and Friday, at the appointed time." Ling gave him a flyer of the dance academy.

They went back to the table carrying drinks for everyone, Wei Jun still wondering how did he end up having to take dancing classes.

-\-|-/-

"I want to sing 'It's my life'" Lan said.

"Hum, Xiao Lan, I'm not sure it is a good idea..."

"Why not, Gui?" But she never gave him time to answer. Soon, the familiar notes began to play and Lan was on stage.

"_This isn't a song for the broken-hearted_

_No silent prayer for the faith departed..."_

Hearing Lan sing, Ling took a deep breath, and her friends looked at her worriedly.

"It's nothing." She assured them.

"But Xiao Lan certainly has a great voice." Wei said.

Everyone a the table agreed, and Joy turned towards Gui, starting to say something.

"Gui, do you..." She stopped dead in her tracks. "Can you take off your glasses a while?"

"Huh?" He looked confused.

"Just take them!" And when he did, both Joy and Wei gasped.

The others at the table looked at the two girls. Except Ling, who was methodically keeping her eyes in the stage.

"_It's my life, and it's now or never_

_I ain't gonna live forever_

_I just wanna live while I'm alive..._

_'Cause IT'S MY LIFE"_

The song ended, and many people clapped. Then Nymph looked at Gui and gasped.

"Jun," Vampire Garlic urged "we have better gasp too, because if we don't the girls won't leave us alone, saying we just didn't realize something very obvious."

Devious Flame didn't gasp, but the rigid way in which he had set his shoulders showed the other that – whatever it was – he had realized it. Vamp looked to his friends, to Ling's carefully averted eyes, and to Feng Lan, who was returning from the stage and re-joining their table. Then he palm-faced.

"Oh, my! How come I didn't see it first?"

At first it seemed as if the five friends were going to burst talking all at the same time. Then they relaxed.

"So, Ling..." Nymph asked, as spokesperson of their group. "Were you even planning to tell us we are sharing a table with famous Prince and Guileastos of Odd Squad, or were you just hoping we wouldn't notice?"

Gui and Lan almost jumped in shock, and Ling finally brought her stare back.

"Okay, perhaps I _should_ have enlisted the lot of you in ICIA." She said, pretending to talk to herself. Then she turned to Gui. "Didn't I tell you it wasn't a good idea you two coming with me? These guys are quite something."

_Oh, yes. They certainly are. _Ling thought, enjoying the warmth of being surrounded by friends, while Joy and Wei teased Feng Lan, demanding compensation for psychological damage for not being a guy and threatened to tear apart all the posters they had of Infinite Band. Jun passed one arm around her shoulders and she let him.

Her friends were quite something.

**Among Friends: The End.**


	15. Flowers (Second Epilogue)

**Flowers**

_The second epilogue of Catalyst_

* * *

><p>"Ming Huang?"<p>

In that fatidic day, just after Second Life was shut for one month, Ling had called him, asking if his character remained in game. When he said it didn't, she asked. "Are you up for a little real life espionage?"

His hesitation had been short. The tasks Ling assigned were interesting, if weird and laborious. Immediately the girl was all business.

"I will give you a residential address. You will go there and discover everything you can about a person called... Ushinawa Shinta. Yes, he's from a Japanese family. The story you're using as your cover is that you want to buy the collection of a manga called 'Rurouni Kenshin' this person put on sale in the internet."

Ming Huang chewed the tip of the pen with which he was taking notes.

"What am I supposed to find out about him?"

"I cannot tell you, Ming Huang. I can only say I have a theory about this person, but I can't tell you what is it, or else the course of your investigation will be biased."

He nodded and – remembering she couldn't see him – muttered an agreement. Sometimes he thought he was every bit as crazy as Ling, because that was the only explanation for him thinking everything she did made sense.

-\-|-/-

"Err, hmm... Hi. I came here looking for Ushinawa Shinta, I sent him an e-mail about that manga collection he'd put on sale..." Ming Huang rehearsed while on his way. He _had_ sent an e-mail. In fact, two e-mails. Fifteen minutes before stepping out of his own house. If the program Ling had sent him worked, the e-mails would appear in the receiver's inbox as if sent yesterday and three days ago.

Approaching the house, the boy realized perhaps he didn't have as much nerve as he first thought. What if his acting skills weren't good enough? Shaking his head, he tried to reassure himself that even if they slammed the door shut in his face, it was unlikely that someone would call the police. What would be their accusations? That he was a spy?

He pressed the doorbell.

_It's show time._

-\-|-/-

A motherly middle-aged woman opened the door, and he started his tale.

"Err, hmm... Hi. I came here looking for Ushinawa Shinta, I sent him an e-mail about that manga collection he'd put on sale..."

The old lady seemed a little disturbed, but she was trying not to show it.

"A manga collection?"

Ming Huang nodded vigorously, adding with his most innocent voice:

"It's called 'Rurouni Kenshin'. He was selling it in 'Sell It dot com'."

The lady seemed lost in thought for a few moments, than nodded.

"Shinta was really trying to sell it. Does it mean that the website is still displaying this ware, after all this time?"

"Ahn… yes." Just to make sure, he had visited the Sell It website. What did the old lady mean with _after all this time_? "Why, is it not on sale anymore? Then I'm sorry to trouble you, mistress. I've sent an e-mail, but I came here even after I've got no reply…"

"It's not your fault…" She paused, and he offered his name. No point in using aliases. "It's not your fault, Ming Huang. I haven't checked up Shinta's mail in a while. The mangas were not sold. Come in."

* * *

><p>Years after the event, Ming Huang would think it back to that day and realize it was very weird for Mistress Ushinawa to simply invite him in and have the following conversation, but then, again, she probably needed to talk. When someone goes through a painful experience, sometimes they need to talk about it, but their friends and relatives never give them chance, afraid they'll stir the still fresh wounds.<p>

Yes. Ms. Ushinawa needed to talk, and Ming Huang had knocked in her door willing to listen.

"You see..." the woman started, after insisting Ming Huang to be seated and have a cup of tea. "My Shinta used to love anime and manga. It was all he and his friends would talk about, and he even found a girlfriend that was also into these things. She was also from a Japanese family, she was called Kaoru..." Mistress Ushinawa smiled fondly at the reminiscence, giving Ming Huang time to take in all those verbs in the past tense.

"Among the anime he like, Shinta's favorite was this 'Rurouni Kenshin', and by coincidence – or perhaps not, it wasn't above my son to starting dating someone for such a silly reason – the female lead character of this anime was also called Kaoru. Because of this, his friends even started calling him Kenshin, and Shinta took a liking to the nickname. They started going to anime conventions in matching costumes... here, have a look at the photos."

Stomach flipping, the young spy forced himself to take one more sip of his tea and look at the pictures of a samurai with an X-shaped scar together with his pretty little girlfriend in a yukata. _That_ was what Ling wanted him to investigate, or his name wasn't Ming Huang... That damned woman! She _knew_ what he was going to find, but even so she just had to send him here to investigate, hadn't she?

Ms. Ushinawa had gone silent, but Ming Huang needed the rest of the story. He asked in a rather ingenuous tone.

"Then why did he put his collection on sale? I mean, if he liked it so much..."

"Well, I guess it brought him painful memories. You see... one day they were coming back from one of those conventions, it was a Saturday night, and you know how Saturday nights are dangerous, all these young men driving drunk to and from parties... They had an accident, and Shinta escaped unscathed – thank the Lord – but Kaoru... she was such a good girl... she didn't die on the spot but she... she..."

Before he knew what he was doing, Ming Hang had sat beside the crying woman and began tapping her shoulder awkwardly.

"It's okay... it's okay..." Which didn't make the least sense. What was it that was okay?

"I'm s-sorry to s-start crying over you like this..." Mistress Ushinawa sobbed.

"It's okay to cry." That was it. "It's no use to keep holding back the tears."

After a few moments she regained her composure.

"Thank you, Ming Huang. Kaoru was so lively and cheerful, everyone who knew her was badly affected by her dead. Shinta most of all. He spent weeks barely talking and barely eating, refusing to go out of his room. Then he started playing these internet games, and even if he was not the cheerful boy he used to be, I thought he was beginning to recover."

"And one day he simply got home with some papers, and asked me to sign a permission for him to spend a few days in the office of Second Life Corporation as a Beta player to this new game they were developing. It is pretty popular right now, isn't it? This Second Life?"

Ming Huang snorted inwardly. Second Life was a little bit too popular. But to the motherly woman in front of him he only said.

"Yeah... I guess it is."

Silence stretched for a few moments, because Ms. Ushinawa seemed lost in thought.

"What... what happened to him afterwards?" Ming Huang felt sorry to disrupt her thoughts, but he needed to know. Well, actually, he already had a good idea of _what_ had happened, but he needed to know what _was said_ that had happened.

"He died. Second Life Corporation sent me a letter, and they said... the gaming helmets the beta players were using were a defective lot, and they failed during one of the tests so..." She trailed off. "And they said they were charging the manufacturer and paid an indemnity but... oh, money won't bring my Shinta back."

"It really sucks, when those big corporations think they can pay you and all your losses will be compensated." The boy was thinking aloud, but Ms. Ushinawa made a grateful sound.

After that, they talked a little more. Ming Huang was forced to drink two more cups of tea and then he left the house carrying a good twenty volumes of 'Rurouni Kenshin', and promising to be back for the rest the next week.

-\-|-/-

After she finished reading Ming Huang's report, Ling's head was spinning. Besides an interview with Shinta's mother, Ming Huang had included a copy of the letter Second Life Co. had sent the woman, details of Kaoru's accident, data on Kenshin and Kaoru's friends, a brief synopsis of 'Rurouni Kenshin' and et cetera et cetera. The boy was overzealous and had made a good use of the one month deadline she had given him.

Phoenix's report wasn't as detailed, but then, she had had much more trouble to get to the subject of her investigation. Rich aristocrats living in high security manors weren't exactly as easy to contact as motherly housewives in the neighbor district. But she had managed it just fine: her report had everything needed to conclude that Rajak Pharasa, the young and said to be sort of depressive heir of the multimillionaire Pharasa Company, was the same person as Sunshine.

Apparently, Rajak was slightly depressive because he was left alone at the manor for many hours, and he started playing MMO's so he wouldn't feel so lonely. Thinking about the original situation of the NPC Lantis Ilanyushenlin in the game, Ling found it very ironical. A prince locked alone in a luxurious room. Just who had designed these characters for the beta players to play with?

Now, Ling supposed, was the time to tell Kenshin and Sunshine about her agreement with Long Dian – actually her agreement with the Dictator, but she could only hope Long Dian would keep the Dictator's part of the deal – and finish this business once and for all.

She took a gaming helmet she'd been modifying. The helmet seemed dangerously with a pile of scrap metal, wires and rivets stuck in unexpected places, and going through one of the old laptops Ling before connecting to the host computer. But it was supposed to work. She muttered a quick prayer before logging into the alternate space she had created for her friends inside Second Life's server.

-\-|-/-

_Void Server_

"Ling?!" Kenshin and Sunshine exclaimed, startled by the programmer's sudden appearance I the middle of the... room.

"What? Didn't I tell you I was coming?"

"You did, but... well, the other times you just..." Sunshine hesitantly pointed to his head. "You know, just your voice, like a PM"

"Well, I don't enjoy being the voice in the back of people's heads and..." Ling looked around and shivered. "Why didn't you tell me this place was _this _creepy?"

"You said 'It was walls or gravity', so we figured decoration was out of question." Kenshin spoke quietly.

Guiltily, Ling activated the special feature of her helmet. Besides allowing her to log into alternate virtual spaces, it allowed her to keep controlling her own computer and – most important – programming.

"Even if this server is still a secret, now I at least have access to the main server. I guess I can spare a few more bytes for this place."

A holographic keyboard appeared before her, and Kenshin and Sunshine observed with curiosity while she typed frantically.

"Here we go." She pressed 'Enter'.

In the blink of an eye, a medium sized room appeared around them, with a large sofa, a carpet and a window with a mountain view. There were also two doors, with signs saying Kenshin' and 'Sunshine'. Ling thought a little more, typed a little more, and when she pressed Enter again there was a desk with a computer.

"So, how do you like it?" She asked. Even Sunshine was speechless. Noticing how their eyes were always attracted to the window, she added. "It shows a different view every time you open it. Or you can choose a fixed one. I put a simple decoration software in that computer."

"A computer inside a computer?" Kenshin rose an eyebrow.

"Actually, yes. People do that all the time, it's called a virtual machine." Kenshin looked pensive, but now she had made their home more comfortable, Ling had news to share. "Please, be seated. I have to tell you something."

They sat on the couch and she took the computer chair for herself.

"Before Second Life was temporarily shut, I made an agreement with the Dictator of Life." Ling started. "He said he would try to convince Long Dian, actually he said Long Dian would certainly do what I suggested, but I don't know if I can trust him in this matter. Sometimes I think the Dictator of Life was too naïve, especially concerning Long Dian."

"I don't know if you remember, but when he almost fired all those missiles Long Dian made a series of requests from the government. Among those, he requested the very best physicians of the world, so he could make himself a new body."

"My idea was that, if he could make himself a new body... he could make you two new bodies as well." And then she was silent, waiting for their answers.

After a long, long pause, Kenshin said.

"We don't belong in real life, Ling."

"About that..." Ling produced twin folders containing a collection of papers, photographs and even recorded tapes. They were the reports Phoenix and Ming Huang had sent her, the way they would look if they were actual objects, instead of virtual files. She handed each folder to the respective subject. "You should see these before you decide."

It was very good they were seated, because while reading their faces showed various degrees of shock. Ling saw Kenshin grip the folder until his knuckles were white, and she knew he was reading about Kaoru.

"Well, you probably need time to think and discuss it among yourselves. Call me as soon as you decide on something, ok?"

And she logged off.

-\-|-/-

_Real Life_

Taking off the modified helmet, Ling wondered again how she had the courage to trust her brain waves so such a hazardous metal patchwork. Then she shook her head and concentrated in the matters at hand. By at least trying to convince Long Dian to help, the Dictator of Life had done his part. Now it was time for Ling to do hers.

_Here goes nothing, _she thought as she dialed a number.

"Feng Lan? It's Ling. Do you have some free time? Great, then meet me in the park in one hour. It's really, really important. And bring some money. We'll be buying a few things before the end of the day. And don't bring Gui. At least not today. Today we go alone."

-\-|-/-

Feng Lan was extremely surprised at Ling's mysterious and commanding tone, but she went to the park anyway. Back in ICIA Ling didn't seem the sort of person who'd do things for nothing, so she supposed it was important.

Her watch was still fifteen minutes early, and she got to the park exactly at the same time as Ling.

"That is cheating, you know." The programmer said in a light tone. "The only time I have to read my books is when I'm waiting for someone, but you came early and I didn't have to wait at all."

"Sorry. Where are we going? You made such a fuss about going somewhere on the phone..."

"We're going there." Ling pointed towards a low hill well away from the downtown.

"And what is there there?" Lan's curious face was a reminder of Prince's, and Ling sighed. Tranny or not, the Blood Elf had been a rare piece of eye candy, and his loss was to be regretted. For some time she considered not answering Lan's question, but there was no point making the other girl buy flowers if she didn't know who the flowers were for.

"A grave."

"Whose?"

"The Dictator of Life's."

Feng Lan widened her eyes, and Ling elaborated.

"He told me where he would like his resting place to be, and I've promised I'd bring you there."

They walked in silence for long minutes.

* * *

><p>"Ling, you don't like me very much, do you?" Feng Lan asked after some time.<p>

"What?" Ling was startled by the question.

"I said you don't like me very much. And I don't know why. Is it something I did as Prince?"

Was it? Ling reflected. Was it Lan's fault that Gui had fallen in love with her? Probably not. If she wasn't that clueless, perhaps she could have realized it in time to stop his delusions but... the point was, she _was_ clueless.

The programmer was quiet for such a long time that Feng Lan sighed.

"Gui talks about you all the time. 'Once Ling and I did this', 'Once Ling and I went there'... He said we would get along very well. And Jing and Yun also have you in great regard because of ICIA and everything else. I wish we could be friends."

"He's been telling you the crazy adventures of our childhood?" Ling had a crooked smile in her face.

"He told me once the two of you went to the zoo." Lan had an easy-going smile, and Ling couldn't help smiling as well. She remembered the zoo. "And you were planning to open all the cages and free all the animals."

"We didn't really plan to open them... We just wanted to make sure everyone in the zoo heard us planning it to know how long it would take for someone to try to stop us."

"And you took a dog whistle and blew it in front of the lion's cage."

"I gave plenty of warning. I spent five whole minutes saying loudly that I would do it. It's not my fault if none of the guards believed me." Ling said defensively.

They laughter died as they went into a flower shop and bought flowers for the Dictator of Life. Lan bought roses and Ling a colorful bouquet of flowers which names she didn't know. As they approached the top of the hill, Lan asked.

"Were you the last person to talk to him?"

"I guess I was."

"What did he said?"

"Like... his last words? He smiled. I mean, he said goodbye, then thanks, then nothing. But it was the kind of silence that means he was smiling."

"He wasn't afraid, then? Of dying?"

"He was." Ling answered truthfully. "But I had already promised bringing you here, so I guess he must have found some solace."

Lan said nothing, and Ling added.

"You have this effect on people. You hearten them. And, I must add, we're here."

Feng Lan looked around. It was simply a grassy hill with some trees and flowers swaying gently with the wind, and it had a great view of the city bellow. Quietly, she laid her flowers by the roots of the tallest tree she could find. Ling put her flowers together with Lan's and said, probably to herself.

"Silly child. You're just to used to watching over everything, aren't you?"

* * *

><p>Long, silent minutes passed, each girl lost in her own thoughts, but their contemplation was broken by a beep in Ling's cellphone. Excusing herself, she went out of earshot and picked up the call.<p>

"It's Kenshin."

Ignoring the fact he couldn't see her, she nodded, but he must have guessed, because he continued.

"You know, it's not as if we could just go back and tell our parents: 'Hi, mom, I know I was dead, but my mind was kept inside a computer and now I have a new body I'm coming back home. I hope you didn't sell all my stuff.'"

Ling was amused by his rather harsh tone and his casual use of possessive in 'our parents'. She suspected he wasn't done talking yet, and wasn't disappointed.

"But we do belong in real life, it's just we can't go back to our families. So, if we get out, what I want to know is: where are we going to live?"

"Kenshin, I know when you entered Second Life you had just graduated from High School" Ling started, in a pretense scolding tone, "but you're already nineteen, and I consider any nineteen year older to be able to look in the Internet for a cheap place to rent, a temporary job and the admission exams of a university of your choice."

Apparently, Kenshin's talking outburst had come to an end, because he said nothing in response.

"Besides," she said soothingly, "if it comes to this, I do have a visitor's room in my place, and Gui and Prince and the rest of our friends from Infinite City will be more than happy to help until you settle. Cold Fox will be especially happy to know you're not much older than him – as far as that guy is able to be happy about something... Are you still worried?"

"... No."

"Right. Does Sunshine have something to add?" Ling heard the rustle of a phone exchanging hands and was greeted by Sunshine's smiley voice.

"Hi, Ling! I just wanted to thank you and... do you think I should get in contact with Fairsky? I mean, I don't want her to think I am dead, but I don't know when I'll be able to see her..."

Ling felt her spirits going down. She looked towards the place where Feng Lang still sat beside the flowers in the place the Dictator of Life had chosen as his grave. She didn't know _if_ Sunshine would be able to see Fairsky. She _had_ warned them, that she couldn't be sure of Long Dian's part of the agreement.

With a beep, she received a message.

_Stop with the long-suffering look. I have agreed to my son's request._

Ling stared. Long Dian, from a confidential number. And, given the reference to her looks, he must have access to monitoring satellites and/or security cameras all around the world. She thought about Lolidragon and, for the beautiful thief's sake, hoped Dian wasn't a stalker.

"Ling? Are you there?" Sunshine voice sounded worried.

"Ah. Yes, I'm here. I just got a little distracted. I'll see if I can talk to her, to prepare her for the shocking news, you know, and then I can put the two of you in contact."

"Thanks, Ling." Sunshine's voice was beaming.

After hanging up, Ling went back to Lan's side.

"The Dictator of Life won't be dead as long as we remember him, right?" The girl seated against the tree trunk asked, and Ling answered affirmatively.

"Then I will visit here every month. And I will bring the others, too. Lolidragon, and Gui, and my brother, and everyone else, if I can."

Ling nodded.

"Well, I gotta go." Lan said, and when she disappeared, Ling sighed.

All in all, it had been a day full of accomplishments. Lan had, on her own accord, promised to visit the Dictator of Life. Kenshin and Sunshine had chosen to join the world of the living. Long Dian had made the closest to a promised that could be expected of him.

"It's not that I don't like her..." Ling confided to the Dictator of Life. "I just loathe her taste for men. I mean, the bard? Why the hell did she have to choose the bard..."

Sighing again, Ling got up. A gush of wind blew suddenly, plucking leaves from the tree and petals from the flowers the girls had bought. Seeing the petals dancing in the wind, disappearing in the general direction of the city, Ling thought the Dictator of Life had chosen a good spot for a grave.

Very peaceful indeed.


	16. Midnight (Last Epilogue)

**Midnight**

_The last epilogue for Catalyst_

* * *

><p>It was midnight when Ling finally put down her book. That author, Yu Wo, was simply great. She had to be, if her books made all the way in time to the 2100's. But after reading such an incredible novel, the last thing Ling wanted was to sleep.<p>

Thoughtfully, she looked at her gaming helmet – the old, normal one. Perhaps tonight was the night she was going back into playing Second Life. Maybe it was a good thing that Second Life Co. had though fairer if all the players were to start anew, because she did feel like creating a new character.

She put the gaming helmet and darkness descended upon her, followed by a bright light, then she was in the void space were an NPC helped players to create their characters. After numerous complaints of female players all around the world, players now could choose if the wanted a male or female NPC to guide them in the creation of their characters. She chose the male NPC just to see if he was as gorgeous as the advertising campaign of Second Life 2.0 promised.

He was.

-\-|-/-

"Hello, handsome..." Ling muttered. The NPC, oblivious, started his standart speech.

"Hello, and welcome to _Second Life_. This is your first time playing, so please give us a moment to scan your body and record your vocal frequency. That way, you will be able to immediately enter the game once you put the game helmet on." A pause for scanning. "Right, now you may begin to create your character. Before you proceed, I must remind you that you will only have one chance to create a character. Once created, your race, name, and appearance cannot be changed."

Ling nodded. She wished the game had the option 'skip the tutorials'.

"I want to see myself as a human and as an elf."

The two figures appeared immediately before her. Ling studied them.

"I want to make myself 5 centimeters (about 2 inches) taller."

She dismissed her human version.

"I want to see myself as a demon."

When the demon version appeared, Ling gasped.

"Now the demon race has a tail! Can the player from the demon race control his tail at will?"

"Control of the tail comes with level and training." The NPC answered dutifully, and Ling didn't have any doubt about which version she was going to pick.

"I'll keep the demon version. Make my hair longer. Longer. Longer. There. And the color of the eyes... yellow. And the skin a little darker. There..." She eyed her new avatar appraisingly. Now she just needed a name.

Looking at her avatar's yellow eyes, especially when they were against that long, dark hair, she couldn't help but to think of the moon in a starless night.

"The name will be Midnight."

"Do you still want to make any changes to your character?"

"No."

"Very well. So, before you start playing, I must inform you of some changes that have occurred in the gameplay of Second Life. All characters now star in a Race Village – in your case the Demon Village – from which you can't leave before level ten. After that the player is sent to the closest Beginner City, and can only depart to explore the rest of the continent after level twenty. Do you have any questions?"

"No..." This system was a surprise for her, and her mind was already racing with the possibilities. Perhaps the Demon Village would have clues to quests and skills that could only be achieved by a player from the demon race? Would the Demon Village be underground? Would there be a library?

"Now, I will explain to you the achievement system..." the NPC started, but Ling interrupted him.

"I already know about the achievement system." Of course she would, she had helped to make it work. She didn't know all possible achievements or combinations of achievements, but the system was pretty easy to understand.

If you trained enough with a sword, you would get the achievement 'Beginner Swordsmanship'. If you had 'Beginner Swordsmanship' a master NPC would accept your request to engage training and you could receive the achievement 'Medium Swordsmanship', and so on. There were, of course, weirder things, like 'Berry Picking' being a pre-requisite to both 'Master of Poisons' and 'Master Cook', and the fun of it was discovering which achievements would give you the skills you needed and mastery in the class you had chosen.

Another new feature was that the players could now choose a sub-class. If you were, say, a warrior with sub-class mage, you would never have spells as powerful as those of someone who had mage as main class, but you would still have a broader range of skills and it could come in handy in a number of situations.

Wondering if the wanderer class was still available, Ling merged with her avatar and Midnight was sent to live her first adventures in the Demon Village.

-\-|-/-

_Second Life, some months later_

Flying Dagger – thief, sub-class priestess – and Furious Storm – warrior, sub-class archer – were feeling very satisfied with themselves. They had talked to the weirdest NPC and fulfilled the strangest requirements, following the trail of rumors that led them to the Archangel's Armor Quest – a legendary armor that, besides being one of the strongest of the whole game, weighted nothing and even boosted the user's speed.

Now, they had finally defeated the boss who guarded the chest where the armor was kept. It was a spectacular feat, considering they were only a duo and the boss had been designed to fight a whole party of six.

"Next time will be even easier." Flying Dagger mused. She was referring to the fact that only one set of armor would be found in the chest, and they would have to come back after three months, when the armor had respawned. This first set would be hers, because Storm had lost in rock-paper-scissors.

She opened the chest, and the armor was everything she expected. It was silvery, light, and pretty. Storm could say what he wanted – she wanted to wear a pretty armor. But something in the chest lid caught her eye, an inscription, saying:

_Midnight has been here._

And a symbol with a crescent moon and three stars.

"Damn you!" She cursed.

"What is the matter?" Furious Stor asked.

"Midnight."

"Damn him!" He cursed as well. They usually didn't make much of a fuss about being the first players to finish a quest, but Midnight – whoever that guy was – was another matter altogether. It was exactly the fifth time they went after items most players didn't even believe existed, only to find out Midnight had already been there.

The last time had been the worst. The human duo had taken great pains to invade the underground fortress of the dark elves, almost dying a hundred times in the process, only to find out that the temple of the Spider Queen was empty, because someone had just recently completed the quest 'The Fury of Lloth'. And, behind a column, the inscription:

_Midnight has been here – with The Kenpo Priests_

The Kenpo Priests were a team that now was considerably famous. They considered themselves followers of legendary Ugly Wolf, from Odd Squad, and all of them had class priest and sub-class fighter. Dagger and Storm had never met them, so they had never had the chance to ask about this mysterious Midnight person. The only other time Midnight's name had been together with someone else's, it was a single player's name: Jewels. They had never heard anything about this Jewels, so they couldn't ask him either.

-\-|-/-

Somewhere far away, Jewels – class archer, sub-class priestess – sneezed and wondered if someone had been talking about her. Then she concentrated again and shot an arrow straight in the eye of a mountain troll that was approaching Nimbus from behind. Nimbus was a thief and necromancer, and Jewels' partner.

Both girls used to have a solo career, but the progress was slow. Besides, after partnering with Midnight for a while, Jewels had discovered having a partner could be lots of fun. Sometimes she wished Midnight hadn't insisted in going separate ways. Nimbus would like her. Or perhaps not. Nimbus was sort of a goth and didn't seem to particularly like nobody.

Jewels sighed and notched another arrow.

-\-|-/-

In another corner of the continent, a team prepared to take the ferry who would take them to the island. The island was a scary thing, with jagged peaks and heavy thunderclouds. Willow – the team's mage and priestess – thought that in the island the sky must seem pitch black.

"What did you say the island was called?" She asked to the NPC who owned the ferry.

"It's called 'Midnight Island', miss."

"Does it have something to do with those horrendous thunderclouds?"

The NPC tilted his head and looked at her in confusion.

"No... It was named after the first hero to complete the 'Mysterious Island' Quest..."

All the team members were dumb folded and looked again towards their destination. Now they were closer, they could see an eerie fortress looming over the island, and in the highest tower, a midnight blue banner with a crescent moon and three stars.

-\-|-/-

In her adventure diary, the player Midnight – class adventurer, sub-class warrior – wrote.

"_It's been one week since I left the Island Fortress, and I still feel very glad I'm called Midnight. Can you imagine, that freakish scary island being named after a player called 'Candy Fairy' or 'Pink Butterfly' or 'Super-hero Fred'? It would be such a shame..."_

Then, noticing her diary had only one page left, she smiled with a wicked idea on her mind.

She sent a copy of the book to her own email – it was new feature created exactly for players who wanted to keep travel diaries – and then added a new scription.

"_This book you have in hands is the travel diary of adventurer Midnight, Spider Vanquisher, Lady of the Midnight Island and Ambassador of the Demon Race among Elves, Orcs and Dwarves. This book tells of my deeds and adventures, and only a worth player will be able to follow my steps – if you are not worth, may you loose all your items in the labirynthic Hell Dungeons and be eaten by a Giant Dioneia in the Tropical Junggle._

_If you are worth, may the Temple Fellowship receive you in their knightly ranks and your bosses drop incredible loot._

_And if you ever come across the former members of Odd Squad, give Prince a smack in the head and send my regards."_

Then she closed the book, painted her symbol in the book spine and hid it in the library of the city where she had started her journeys after level 20. That bit about smacking Prince in the head was childish, she knew, but who cares? It was unlikely someone would read the book, and even more unlikely the person would be able to recognize Prince. She then looked in her pocket for a crumpled piece of paper.

_Interesting Stuff_

_[x] Archangel's Armor_

_[x] Priestess Hairpin (does it exist?)_

_[] Disguise Quest → mandatory for Travel to Celestial Continent_

_[x] Assassin's Guild_

_[x] Temple Fellowship_

_[] NPC Rhosghobel, desert (sequence quest?)_

_[] Mystery Island_

_[x] Ruins of Infinite City_

_[]Looney Techniques_

Ticking "Mystery Island", she looked at her map and turned east, towards the first step of the Disguise Quest, because demons and dark elves needed a disguise before going to the Celestial Continent, the same way elves and angels had to disguise before visiting the Hell Dungeons.

Looking how few items remained in her list, Midnight sighed and promised to stop Questing for a while to gain some levels, so she could start on that three-paged list entitled "High Level Interesting Stuff".

-\-|-/-

_Void Server_

Kenshin and Sunshine looked at each other through stacks of books and notes and sighed.

"Did you get a higher score in this last test?" The later asked hopefully. Kenshin shook his head and Sunshine got up and stretched. "I think I'm done for today. You should rest as well."

Kenshin nodded, but as Sunshine disappeared into his room, probably to call Fairsky, he kept eyeing the unsolved problems in the sheet. He had reached the limit of what he could do for himself, so it was time for him to accept Ling's offer of help "in anything that has to do with numbers" as she had said. But it was too late to call her (it was easy to pull all nighters and exchange night by day when you lived in a virtual reality) and he had absolutely _nothing_ to do.

He was done with re-reading his file, after so much studying he didn't want anything to do with reading, and he wasn't in the mood for watching anime or surfing idly on the Internet. When the boredom was reaching critical levels, Kenshin had an idea.

He sat by the computer desk and opened the decoration software. He typed the words 'gaming helmet', wondering if it was going to work. And it did.

Now, he reasoned, theoretically he _was already_ inside Second Life, because Ling had made this place out of Second Life's servers in the first place. So perhaps there wouldn't be need to purchase the game. But his main worry was if he would be able to log out, and how. He could only hope to come back to the void server, instead of being stuck in the game forever or disappearing into thin air.

He put the helmet.

-\-|-/-

_Second Life_

"Hello, and welcome to _Second Life_. This is your first time playing, so please give us a moment to scan your body and record your vocal frequency. That way, you will be able to immediately enter the game once you put the game helmet on." A pause for scanning. "Right, now you may begin to create your character. Before you proceed, I must remind you that you will only have one chance to create a character. Once created, your race, name, and appearance cannot be changed."

Kenshin stared silently as a beauty delivered him the automatized welcoming speech. When she started giving him the race options, he was stunned by the ridiculous amount of variety. Should his character be just like himself? He discarded the idea. A beastman of some sort, then? An orc? He didn't like those, either. In the end, he choose from something familiar.

"I wish to be an elf". Prince had been an elf and, despite the elven race being weaker than the human, he was a just fine swordsman. The rest of the appearance he didn't change much, except for the hair color.

"Make my hair..." He looked around, in search for ideas. Actually, anything short of red would be fine. "Green." Because it was Thursday. And since he was running very, very short of creativity, he choose the name accordingly. "Screen name will be Green Leaves".

The NPC then explained the gaming system and Kenshin was sent to the Elf Village.

-\-|-/-

_Void Server_

"Kenshin!" Sunshine jumped as if he was about to have a heart attack, but his voice was full of relief. The other looked at him inquiringly.

"You had disappeared..." Sunshine explained, then, noticing the gaming helmet Kenshin still held. "What is this?"

"A gaming helmet. I was playing Second Life."

Sunshine could only stare, and after some time Kenshin started feeling uncomfortable under his gaze.

"What?"

Sunshine shook his head.

"Nevermind. Here, let me have a try."

Silently Kenshin handed him the helmet, and as soon as he put it Sunshine simply disappeared. Long minutes passed before he was back as suddenly as he had gone. Now Kenshin understood why Sunshine had seemed freaked out.

"Pff... Why does it take so long to only create your character?" Sunshine complained. "Now, don't go and get addicted to Second Life, we need to study."

* * *

><p>So, in the following days, they established a routine. They studied like crazy during the day, and when they were so tired they couldn't make sense of they were reading, they logged into Second Life for a couple of hours. Their progress in the game was slow, but they didn't care. It wasn't as if they were in a hurry to be among the strongest players again.<p>

"When will you leave the Human Village?" Kenshin asked one night, after logging off. "I finally left the Elf Village, perhaps will be able to meet in one of the Beginner Cities."

Sunshine didn't reply immediately. In fact, he seemed completely lost in thought.

"Sunshine?"

"Long Dian called while you were away. He said he is ready to start, and wanted to discuss a few details. He asked if he could come over." He paused and Kenshin gave him one of his meaningful stares. Sunshine continued. "I couldn't quite refuse, besides, it seems important, so he'll be here tomorrow."

* * *

><p>When Long Dian appeared the following day, Kenshin and Sunshine couldn't help but be surprised yet again at how identical he was to the Dictator of Life. Of course, now he had dispensed the flamboyant clothes used in game, and his hair was shorter, but still, they were so alike that it was unsettling. The fact that this very man had tried and almost succeeded in killing millions of people with a nuclear weapon didn't help in the least.<p>

Except for the slightly mad glint he had permanently in his eyes, Long Dian was fairly decent. They discussed about the appearances Kenshin and Sunshine would have, the names to go in their false ID's, and the place where they would wake up. Long Dian even presented each of them with a bank account that would help with the living expenses for a good three months while they looked for jobs.

"And there is one more thing." The guest said as he got up with intention of leaving. "You already know that you can log in Second Life's main server from here. When I'm about to start the transference, I'll ask both of you to log in the game and stay there until it's done. Then, when you log out, you'll be really out."

And as soon they nodded their acquiescence, Long Dian disappeared, and except for the call he gave them the day the transference started, that was the last of him that all the characters in this story have ever seen.

-\-|-/-

_Second Life_

It was a shame he and Sunshine hadn't managed to meet in the Beginner City, Green Leaves thought as he walked the streets of Crystal City. It would have saved both of them a couple of deaths if they had each other's support in the journey to Crystal City. Suddenly he received a PM.

"Kenshin? I was killed back to level 19... I'm stuck in the Beginner City again. So this time I'll stick here until I'm level 30, so the journey will be safer. You enjoy your time exploring the city and finding good hunting grounds, ok? Just don't be killed."

"Right." He answered, and was silent again.

Green Leaves wandered the city, talking to all NPC's in hopes of starting a quest, and finally he ended up at the library. He pulled books randomly from the shelves and thumbed through them absentmindedly, stopping every time he came across an interesting picture. There were indeed lots of useful things in the books: interesting tales that were backgrounds to quests, tips for defeating mobs, world maps and... Green Leaves looked again at the open book he had in hands. It was a dungeon map, and it seemed hand-drawn. He flipped a few pages back and started reading.

_I finally got out of the Beginner City, and I already have a handful of ideas to go in search of Quests, but with my current level I don't even know if I will made it to Crystal City alive..._

_It is in times like these I really appreciate the flexibility of my real life job: around Crystal City there is a dungeon that is just great for people around level 20, but at night it's always crowded. I'll stay there until I get level 40, because if I know myself, it will be quite a while before I bother to stop questing to raise my level again._

The book was the travel diary of a player, and it had just the tips Green Leaves needed, such as a good hunting place. He put the book in his backpack and headed straight to the aforementioned dungeon.

* * *

><p>"Hey, newbie! Where do you think you're going?" Three arrogant looked players stopped Green Leaves in his way to the dungeon.<p>

"Dungeon." He answered, in his usual monosyllabic way.

"And have you paid the fee for dungeon use?" Inquired the one who seemed like the leader of the trio.

"Fee?" Green Leaves raised his eyebrow. This wasn't mentioned in Midnight's memories.

"Of course! The surroundings of Crystal City are territory of our guild, the Bloody Dragons. You have to pay a three hundred gold coins fee to use our dungeons."

Great, Green Leaves thought. Abusing players. But they wouldn't have their way with him.

"The dungeons aren't yours. Everyone has access to them."

"Well, not on my turn. Boys." The leader signaled, and his two companions seized Green Leaves. "Now let us see what the newbie carries in his newbie backpack..."

Green Leaves tried to fight, but he was barely level 20, and these three seemed to by around level 50, perhaps 60. Setting his mouth in a tight line, Leaves thought grimly that with his old status he could easily have taught them a lesson.

"... he _is_ really a newbie! There is nothing worthy here, he doesn't even have any money! Look at this! Only crappy items and... a book? Common... you don't have that much capacity in your inventory, and you waste it with a book?" The higher level player teased, and flapped a little through the pages. His expression began to change. He then took a look at the symbol painted in the spine and cursed.

"It's that wretched, cartwheeling demoness' diary!"

The other two gaped.

"The one who defeated the Boss?"

Whoever this Midnight was, Green Leaves felt his admiration for her increasing tenfold. Anyone who defied these guys deserved some degree of praise.

"And it looks like she has been Questing... Our guild could profit greatly from this..." The chief bully now had a greedy look in his eyes.

Realizing what was the chief bully's purpose, Green Leaves took advantage of his captor's distraction to break free and lunge for the book. But given their levels, even these strength-based brutes were faster than his speed-based status, and he felt fingers starting to close in the back of his neck, when suddenly...

"CRICKET THROW!"

In a blur of movement, someone carrying a polo hammer just came out of the thickets and in a fluid motion sent Green Leaves' two pursuers flying. She – it was a girl – held the polo hammer deftly and put her hand in Leaves' shoulder, motioning for him to stay behind.

Even feeling uncomfortable about being protected by a girl, he had to comply, for she indeed had the better stats.

"Cartoon Strike!" She shouted, going for the remaining player. From the brute force of the blow, Green Leaves half expected the bully's HP to be reduced by half, but surprisingly the hammer stopped fractions of inches from his head, and a magic circle spreaded a shockwave around him.

The chief bully was paralyzed, in the not very dignified position of wincing and raising his arms to prevent a blow. Weirder still, little yellow birds circled his head, chirping happily.

"Now, Roar, your guild does have a reputation of only having jerks, but taxing newbies in the use of dungeons and trying to steal their books? And I had thought the Bloody Dragons had _some_ sort of pride..." The only part of the male player – was his name Roar? - that could move were his eyes, and they looked impossibly angry. "By the way, do you like my new technique? It's been my trump card for fighting bosses – at least the ones who don't summon minions. Because I've been using it so often, it has turned a quite high level, so, with your current status, you will be paralyzed for about five minutes before the last bird disappears and you can move again."

She turned to leave, and motioned for Green Leaves to follow her. As soon as Roar was out of sight, she started muttering.

"What a bother... just as I was in my way to Crystal City... why these Bloody guilds have to be so bothersome? Bloody Dragons, Bloody Tigers, Bloody Conquerors..." She continued for a good while, having apparently forgotten all about Green Leaves.

"Er... excuse me, but..." He called, "are you the adventurer Midnight?"

"Actually, I am." The girl seemed rather surprised.

"But you travel diary says you're a demoness."

"Oh, this." She looked around and took off a ring she had been using. Immediately her features changed from human to demon. "Magical disguise from Disguise Quest. Demons can't enter the Celestial Continent without a good disguise. But now, tell me about you. It seems you have my travel diary?"

Green Leaves looked away, seeming embarassed.

"I found it. In the library."

"That's okay. The book was meant to be found. Is it being useful?"

"Yes, I was just going to that dungeon you've mentioned..." He trailed off, and frowned. Then, sounding slightly incredulous, he said. "It's time to log out."

"Already? Okay, then. It was good to talk with you...?"

"Green Leaves." He gave his name. Then, almost excitedly, he said. "It was nice to meet you, you are a legend, but I have to go."

And then he just disappeared, leaving Midnight slightly dumb folded. After all, what kind of player was so _happy _about logging out?

THE END

-\-|-/-

**Sigh... that was it.**

**After that, Kenshin entered XXX University to study programming, while Sunshine went to law school in a neighboring city. The faces of the Odd Squad members when they first met the duo in real life was priceless.**

**Ling's character, Midnight, became one of the top 10 characters in Second Life. She began dating Wei Jun and eventually got over Gui, and became good friends with Feng Lan.**

**Deciding to take a break from Gui and Lan, Zhuo Lin Bin started playing Second Life 2.0 as a solo player, and finally met a nice girl. At the same time, encouraged by Ling (who didn't have any means to know the gravity of what she was proposing), Ming Huang tried asking Doll out, and when he discovered she was a princess, his face, too, was priceless.**

**Ling's other friends – Vampire Garlic, Spring Nymph, Lovely Wei and Joydrop – also became high leveled players in Second Life, and were of great help when Odd Squad regrouped and set themselves to the task of rebuilding Infinity City.**

**Perhaps, one day, I'll write about all of this in detail, as a sequel to Catalyst, but for now, you'll have to take my word that "in the end, everyone lived happily ever after."**

**I hope you enjoyed it, reviews are welcome.**

**Thanks for sparing some of your time for reading this first work of mine!**


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